Way of the Jinchuuriki: Revamped
by Zagger the Bloody Angel
Summary: Failing to kidnap Hinata, the Cloud sought forgiveness and in exchange they sent over a shinobi in training to rid themselves of a threat, the young vessel of Nibi. Placed in an apartment with a pain filled, emotionally scared blonde... Can she save him?
1. Arc 1 The Coming of an Angel

A/N: Yes, I finally updated. I haven't been online for a while, so don't give me any shit about not updating. As you can see, I've remade this as the original wasn't what I wanted to be. You can probably also see that I've taken a few of my other fics off and added a new one called Rocks of Change, which I've been working on quite a lot over the past week, so please give it a chance. Don't worry, they'll be back, I just have to remodel them as you can all tell my writing ability has improved from since I put them out. Also, don't say anything about me taking names from Tenshi Muyo and using them in here. I don't have access to the internet and these are the only names I could find quickly.

I Do Not Own Naruto.

In a village high up in the mountains, the people of Kumogakure were in a panic. After learning of the failed kidnapping attempt on the Hyuuga heiress, they were in trouble since Konoha had reason to retaliate. Kumo was in a uproar. Most of the civilians and newer shinobi were calling for a new Raikage while the elder shinobi were disappointed that they mission failed but realized that they were in need of a new kage because of the condition of the village and the fact that he failed on his last chance.

The Sandaime Raikage sighed as he watched a large mob outside his window, demanding that he stepped down from office. He had put all his hope on the mission to redeem himself to everyone and it ended in failure. He sighed deeply as he looked down at all of them and wiped a tear before taking off his kage robes and laid them on the desk with his letter of resignation on top of it. With one last breathe, he pulled out a tanto and pressed it against his throat before he slid it through easily. He collapsed into a heap with blood spewing out of his neck and his eyes became dimmed tell they were completely void of life.

* * *

Only a few days later, the newly chosen Yondaime Raikage was listening to the council bickering on what to do. Some of the council wanted to have Hiashi executed for killing their shinobi after the peace treaty was signed. Others said that they should do give something to Konoha for violating their side of the treaty. Only one of them wanted to go back to war with Konoha, but the others quickly shut the old war hawk up.

The Raikage sighed in annoyance. _'I hate this shit. Why did I accept this job? Oh yeah, Makoto and Yugito.'_

The council kept bickering as the tick mark on the Raikage's head began to increase. "Alright, Shut up!"

They all stopped talking as they looked at the slightly irritated Raikage, Aisukaze Tenshi. "We are never going to get anywhere at this rate."

The council member looked at each other and repressed the urge to argue with him, but nodded their heads as they knew it was true. Hell, they rarely agreed on anything most of the time anyways.

An elder council member spoke up. "So do you have something in mind."

Indeed Tenshi did have something on mind, but he really didn't want to do that to Makoto's daughter, but he had no choice. He sighed before looking him in the eyes. "Yes I do. We were suppose to seal the treaty by sending over one of our shinobi to Konoha, correct."

The council members nodded as they did make the treaty. "But we violated it by trying to kidnap the Hyuuga heiress and it failed resulting in losing one of our best shinobi. I believe that they will not trust us unless someone important is sent over now."

The council jaws hit the floor at this statement, but couldn't help but agree with it somewhat. A younger member spoke up for them. "So you are saying we give them one of our top shinobi! That ludicrous!" The other members of the council nodded their head in agreement as they were running short on quality shinobi as it was.

"I wasn't talking about one of top shinobis, we cannot handle that right now. I was thinking more on the lines of say, my ex-teammates daughter, Yugito." He said while glaring at the council to oppose him on this before continuing. "The fact that she is a jinchuuriki makes her highly important and due to their lack of shinobi, will most likely lay off as a jinchuuriki is always useful for rebuilding your forces."

"But we need to rebuild our forces as well, Tenshi-sama."

He nodded as he knew it was true, but was thankful that he just got a visit from Jiraiya not but a week ago. "That is true, but I've have information from a friend. His spy network has been gathering information a certain group, a group that is known as Akatsuki. Even with his network, all he knows of their goals is to capture and extract the bijuu from their host, the rest is still unknown as they are just recently formed."

"There are currently 9 members and each are S-class nukenins and have done terrible crimes. Not to mention that the known members are all in the top twenty in each villages bingo book. Each member is assigned to capture a bijuu, but they work in pairs so that they can easily over whelm the bijuu or jinchuuriki our case. And from what they have shown, they will destroy anything in their path to get what they want."

"Now I know we already possess the eight tails but to have two demon vessels in our village at the moment can not bode well for us. They might turn us into their first target and descimate whatever is in their way to obtain both. While I know Kirabi is more than capable of defending himself along with his brother standing beside him... But what of Yugito? She is of no use to us right now for she doesn't even know how to control the Nibi nor is she skilled enough to not make her a liability for us in the meantime."

"It is quite clear what we have to do. Either we give Yugito up to Konoha in forgiveness or we risk starting an open war with them. Pick your choice." Tenshi finished, his gazed boring into the eyes of the council.

This had the council thinking. One they could have Yugito turned into a living weapon and let them build their shinobi force up, only to have nine of the strongest shinobi in the lands coming after them and quite possibly losing their own families lives in the process. The other was they could give the burden to Konoha and be rid of the trouble, but have a harder time training quality shinobi as they would have to risk them in more dificult missions.

There was also the fact that a war could start with Konoha and that would be the worst case scenario for while the leaf was weakened and they, the Cloud, had never disarmed during any of the great wars, Konoha was still considered the strongest nation in the world at the exact moment. It was a hard decision, but after a few minutes they had thought it through and called Tenshi back in.

The eldest member of the council stood up and looked at Tenshi before delivering his statement. "By the order of the council, Nii Yugito, the Jinchuuriki of Nibi no Nekomata, daughter of the Nii Makoto, will be sent to Konoha for redemption on our part in the attempted kidnapping of the Hyuuga heiress."

Tenshi nodded at their statement. "Good. Meeting adjourned." He turned around and walked out of the room before heading to his office. Once inside, he pulled out a scroll and wrote a message before putting it on a messenger bird and sent it to Konoha. He sighed before sitting down in his care and looking glumly at the wall.

"I hope I'm doing the right thing."

* * *

The Sandaime Hokage sighed as he looked at the six year old, spiky blonde haired boy on the couch in his office. The villagers had attempted another attack on the poor child, not wanting to believe he was their only salvation from the demon he held back. Sure, he imprisoned the ones that attacked him, but he couldn't execute them all seeing as their was around a hundred, though they were going through sessions with Ibiki to find out who the ring leaders were so they could be executed.

But this time was different from all the others. The six year old child had finally broken. He had released a massive amount Kyuubi's youki scaring the villagers and alerting shinobi to what was going on. The Hokage arrived within seconds of sensing it, only to see Naruto was dozens of lacerations over his body and tied to a flaming post, but the wounds were healing at an unbelievable pace while the youki repelled the fire. Many shinobi showed up at this time and began to gather up the mob and started herding them towards the jail in town.

Sarutobi had quickly taken Naruto off the post and looked at his eyes and saw that they were deep crimson with dilated pupils. After a few moments, he had finally calmed the young boy down and he instantly passed out as the youki left his body. The Hokage picked him up and was shocked to see that all of his injuries were healed and quickly took him to his office after ordering the few Anbu there to find out who the ring leaders were by any means.

He was no fool and knew that Naruto had know about Kyuubi for at least a year now after a vicious assault on him. He had found him in a critical state with the head of the Anbu, Hatake Kakashi. The young child injuries from that day were 5 broken ribs, a cracked pelvis, punctures to his right lung, stomach, large intestines, small intestines and his left kidney, dislocated both shoulders, a fractured femur, a stab wound next to his heart and bruises on the inside of his rectal passage indicating he was raped.

After that incident, he was placed under the protection all the major clans even though Hiashi did it half heartily that day only because he was forced to. Hiashi was convinced, meaning beaten the shit out of, by the majority of the females in the Hyuuga clan to put Naruto under protection. Even with all their protections, it still didn't stop attacks on him, only reduced them from happening regularly.

Naruto had changed from that day on as he was no longer his happy self. He slowly began becoming colder to everyone around him and would lash out at anyone at any given moment. He started zoning in and out constantly and eventually stopped talking to everyone. Not even Sarutobi could pierce through his icy exterior. After a while, Sarutobi had of his most trusted Anbu watching over him believing that he was beginning to show signs of schizophrenia. This worried him even more when Kakashi, Tenzo and Yugao had all reported that he began to speak to someone or something when he thought he was alone.

After debating with himself and asking the advice of his Anbu, Sarutobi had asked Inoishi go into Naruto mind to figure out what was wrong. Inoishi agreed as he along with the other clan heads had began to notice Naruto's change as well. After waiting till he was asleep, he went into Naruto's mind and began to search through his mind.

(Flashback)

Inoishi wasn't quite sure what to think. He had never seen a mind like this before. The fact that it was sewer wasn't bothering him to much, but the way it looked did. There were large cracks along the dark, clammy walls. This disturbed him as he knew these walls represented Naruto's mind. Even though it was cracking, it didn't look as if it was going to fall apart any time soon, as the walls looked very sturdy. Inoishi was slightly impressed by this as it meant that Naruto had a will of steel, especially after what all had happened to him. He continued walking around trying to figure out what was causing Naruto's gradual change.

It wasn't to long that he found himself in front of Kyuubi's gates only to find that it wasn't there. After panicking and almost releasing the jutsu, he noticed movement in the back. Taking a closer look, he noticed there was a large figure in it that he figure was Kyuubi, but what was odd was there looked to be a human like figure sleeping next to it. He walked closer trying to figure out what it was before he jumped back in fright as a giant reddish-orange claw nearly split him in half.

As he looked up he saw two crimson eyes that he hadn't seen in five and a half years staring at him with no emotion other than hate in it's eyes.

**"Human. Why do step foot in my kits domain? Speak now or be devoured."**

Inoishi couldn't help but shiver at the powerful, yet slightly feminine voice, but answered not really wanting to test the seeming irritated fox. "I just came here to check on the state of Naruto's mind and find out why he talks to things that aren't." The kitsune narrowed it's eyes him before emitting some red youki, lighting up the cage. His eyes widen as he saw Naruto curled up against Kyuubi's stomach while laying on one of it's tails and using the tip of another as a blanket.

**"As you can see, my kit is fine at the moment. But the cracking on the walls should give you and idea of what is happening."** Inoishi winced at this, knowing it to be true. **"He isn't talking to things that aren't there. He is talking to me as he feels somewhat safe in his pathetic excuse of a home, so you don't have to worry about him becoming schizophrenic any time soon."**

Inoishi sighed in relief hearing that and was about to speak up when Kyuubi cut him off. **"I will not answer any more question. Only know that I'm protecting my kit and if events like the one earlier this day should happen again, I will level this village when I'm freed. Now if you excuse me, you are disturbing my kit's sleep. Leave."**

Seeing the kitsune close it's eyes and curl around Naruto was Inoishi's cue to release the jutsu and tell Sarutobi what happened.

(Flashback End)

Inoishi quickly reported what he had learned to Sarutobi, who in turn call a council meeting excluding Danzo as he would oppose everything they would try to do. Needless to say they weren't all to thrilled to hear this, yet couldn't help but slightly agree with the foxes statement if they were in it's place. Sarutobi made them swear to secrecy that none of this information would not get out under the punishment of death. They agreed mainly because they didn't want any villagers knowing about this as they would take it as a threat and try to kill Naruto and the old war hawk, Danzo getting wind of this and turning Naruto into his personal weapon.

Sarutobi sighed deeply as he looked on at Naruto before a tap at one of the windows behind him broke him out of his thoughts. Turning towards it, he saw a bald eagle signifying it was a message from Kumo. Quickly letting it in, he took the message from it's talons and quickly unsealed it before reading it. He could only sigh for the umpteenth time after finishing it. It was time to go get the council.

* * *

Sarutobi sighed as he waited for the rest of the council members to show. He hated these meeting with a passion as they rarely ever agreed on anything without him intervening. Of course they were waiting for Danzo. He always wondered what made him allow Danzo to become a elder and get a seat on the council, sometimes he could be to damn kind for his own good and the fact that Danzo was the only person besides everyone else in the room that qualified for the position.

Just the, the old war hawk with one arm walked into the room and sat down at his seat as they all quieted down as they looked at Sarutobi, waiting for him to explain. He sighed before taking a deep breath before speaking. "I've just gotten a message from the newly instated Raikage wishing to seek redemption for his predecessor's actions." Most member of the council nodded slightly at the statement waiting for the Hokage to continue.

"As in the original treaty, they wish to send a shinobi over, someone of greater importance than they didn't originally plan on." At this Danzo interrupted him. "So they'll be sending over one of their best shinobi then." Sarutobi shook his head at this making most of the council raise their eyebrows. "No. They are not, they are sending us shinobi in training, an academy student." Now this didn't have a good reaction from most of the council. Most started saying how absurd that is and they wouldn't accept the offer if that's all they were offering.

The only ones that didn't were the Nara clan head, Nara Shikato and the Aburame head, Aburame Shibi. Both thought about what he said logically and Shikato was the first to respond, making the other council members quiet down. "He isn't a normal academy student is see. Someone more like Naruto." At this everyone was silent as they looked at the Sandaime, who nodded his head at Shikato statement. "Correct as always Shikato, except he is a she. Nii Yugito is the jinchuuriki of Nibi no Nekomata, a weapon in training. Now I would never normally say this, but since our shinobi forces are still recovering from the war and Kyuubi's attack, we need something that can gives us and edge over other villages."

Most winced at this knowing it was true and most of them didn't like the idea of a living weapon themselves and that was the reason why they always denied Danzo on taking Naruto under his wing. Of course soon as Danzo heard this he instantly had a smile his face before speaking. "So your saying we should turn her into a weapon. Than I humbly ask the council to accept their offer and once the girl arrives that she be handed over to Roots for training."

The first to responded to him with Shikato. "Under no circumstance am I going to willing hand you over anyone to become a weapon. It is inhumane." The next was Shibi as he never liked the war hawk anyways. "Logic says that she is still a human being and no sane human should ever go through that hell." After that one by one, the rest of the council members added their say to it, all deny him his way. Once they did, he stood up and was about to walk out of the room.

"Emotions brings hate, hate brings war." After that he left the room leaving the council to just glare at were his back was, wondering why Sarutobi just didn't kick him off the council.

Once he left and they all calmed down, Hyuuga Hiashi spoke up. "I think the girl should be added to our clan. It seems that they admitted they were behind it, but are asking for redemption. It would make sense that the girl would be placed with us as my daughter was their target." _'Plus I can arrange for her and my nephew to be married and then use her against our council to get rid of the seal once and for all, though I have to find a substitution for it first.'_

Uchiha Fuguku seethed at this. "Fair my ass! You just want her to settle some clan disputes and to strength you clan. And then when she can bear children each child with have the Byukugan and have and extraordinary amount of chakra with other benefits as well." He yelled at Hiashi. He did have a point, but most of the other council members could see that he was wanting the girl for the same exact reasons and having someone to marry off to Itachi or Sasuke.

Most clan heads sat their bored as the two heads of the famed Uchiha and Hyuuga clans pointlessly argued about the girl jinchuuriki. Sarutobi was beginning to wonder why he ever came to these damn meetings as they always ended like this and he was starting to believe that he was too old for this shit. Though most of the members were slightly glad that Kumo didn't demand Hiashi's head, some part of them were wishing they could give it to them just to stop the arguing between the two doujutsu users.

As the two argued over petty issues that had nothing to do with why they were here in the first place, Shikato got an idea... well, dozens of ideas but only one that he said out loud. "Why don't we put Miss Nii with Naruto." As soon as this was said, it had the attention of everyone in the room. Mitokado Homura was first to break the silence. "That a good suggestion and it could work, especially seeing the change in Naruto over the last year due to the attack."

Yamanaka Inoishi spoke next, remembering his visit into his mind. "Yes it would be good to have someone to talk to besides the ANBU guarding him daily. And maybe she could get him to open up as they have something in common." Utatane Koharu nodded her head at that before adding her opinion. "Yes it is a good idea, seeing that he only talks to other children when we force him to and even then it isn't much." Mostly everyone in the room flinched at that as it was unfortunately true.

The next to speak was Shibi. "I agree with Shikato on this. Also she has some training on using her bijuu's powers and can teach Naruto to harness them as well." The others nodded, but weren't exactly pleased with this notion as Naruto was exactly stable at the moment and using Kyuubi's powers could end up breaking him. Hiashi voiced his concern on this. "While I do agree with Shibi on that, I think we should wait to have her teach Naruto how to use Kyuubi's power until he is more stable. Otherwise it could end up terribly and there might be lives lost in the process."

All the other council members agreed with this as they didn't need any more tragedies on their hands. Inuzuka Tsume was the next to voice her opinion. "While I agree having the two together is a good idea, where will we put them? I mean his apartment is barely enough for him and if none of you remember, it was inhospitable even for rats." Everyone flinched and looked sad at this, none more so than Sarutobi as he was the one that set Naruto up there in the first place.

"We could always move him in the apartments for our shinobi. He is dead set on become one even after everything he has been put through and there would be no worry about him having any trouble there as there will always be someone there that can protect in case the worse should happen." Fuguku said in a rare moment of kindness. Of course this had everyone staring at him in shock. A tick mark developed on his head as he mumbled about never being nice again.

Once everyone recovered from that, they nodded in agreement with him. Sarutobi looked at all of them before speaking. "So do you all agree with this." When they all nodded Sarutobi continued. "Good, then as this moment Uzumaki Naruto and Nii Yugito will be moved into an apartment together in the shinobi district once she arrives. Meeting adjourned." Everyone got up and left the room rather quickly as they had things to do, not counting Hiashi and Fuguku who restarted their argument from earlier.

Sarutobi walked out quickly not wanting to be caught in the cross fire of the two and made it to his office before smiling at the young boy sleeping on the couch with an Anbu reading Icha Icha leaning on the wall next to him. Sarutobi could only sweat drop before faking a cough to get is attention. Of course he knew he already had it, he just wanted to see him put the book away before Naruto woke up. "Report."

The Anbu quickly put up his book before answering in a slightly lazy tone. "He's been sleeping peacefully while you've been away, though I did have to keep Anko from taking him home with her. But other than that it's been quiet." Sarutobi nodded at that, ignoring his lazy tone as no matter what, it would always be there. "Thank you Kakashi. I have one more job for you today." Kakashi nodded as he stood at attention. "I want you to find an open apartment in the shinobi complex next to someone you know that sees Naruto as him and not Kyuubi. I know most do but there are a few that don't."

Kakashi nodded and was about to leave before something popped up. "Hokage-sama if I may." Sarutobi nodded as he already figured what he was going to ask. "What was the council meeting about? I know it was a message from Kumo, but I'm not sure on the details." The old man sighed and cursed Kakashi analytical skills before answering.

"Well, I supposed that you would have found out sooner or later anyways. The new Raikage had convinced his council to ask for redemption. So his offer was to send over a young girl, a jinchuuriki like Naruto. The meeting was about accepting this offer. After a some discussion they did." Kakashi winced as he knew when the Hokage said discussion, it meant bickering and arguing. "Then when they did, they were deciding on what to do, Shikato came up with a brilliant idea that I didn't even think about. Putting her and Naruto together."

At this Kakashi raised his eyebrow before nodding. If anyone could get him to open up, it would have to be another jinchuuriki. "So for the remainder of the meeting, they discussed and then agreed that putting them in the shinobi district would be the best thing for both of them." Kakashi nodded as it made sense. Think for a moment, he spoke. "Hokage-sama. I know my apartment complex has a lot of vacancies on the east wing. Mainly because the two most eccentric people in Konoha live there."

Hokage paled at that as he knew who he was talking about. It was none other than the flaming passion of youth known as Maito Gai and violent and blood thirsty, Mitrashi Anko. Suddenly, two images of Naruto appeared in both of their minds. One with him dress in a green spandex with a bowl hair cut smiling with the brightest set of teeth you had ever seen and the other was him wearing a fishnet shirt, tan pants and trench coat while chewing on a dango stick looking crazily at them as he was spinning a kunai around his finger.

Both shivered at the thoughts before looking at each other. "Well, as long as they don't turn him into miniature versions of themselves, I'd say that would be a good place to put him." Sarutobi spoke as Kakashi just nodded, trying to get both images out of his head. Once he did, he spoke up. "Well, I'll go see if there are any others, just in case." With that, he shushined out of the room and started frantically searching for different apartments, one closer to him than those two.

Sarutobi smiled as he saw this before pulling out a scroll and started writing on it, telling him of what happened. _'Well Tenshi your plan worked. Now all we can do is hope they won't kill each other.'_ He sighed as he pressed the buzzer and Kotetsu and Izumo walked into the room. "I have a C-rank mission for you two. I need you to see what's salvageable in Naruto's apartment and bring it here once your done." Both nodded before shushining out. He sighed once more as he looked at Naruto before smiling lightly. _'Well, I hope this works out, for your sake.'_

Turning away from him, he placed the scroll on the eagle's talons before releasing it and watched it fly of in the distance. After a few moments, he turned back to his desk and paled at the amount of paperwork on it. Kami how he hated this job at times.

* * *

Aisukaze Tenshi was currently signing paperwork at a rapid pace, mumbling about how unfair it was that he had to do this. Other than being slightly irritated by the amount of paperwork, he was worried about Yugito. Not in the sense that he cared for her, more of the fact that if Makoto was still alive he would have a kunai lodged so far up his ass that it wouldn't be funny. And the fact that he had to deliver the new to Yugito himself was just painful as hell as she tried to maul him for not honoring her kaa-san's wish.

Funny thing was that he was, just not in the sense she wanted it. She had asked him to take care of her as she passed away and he had done so, grudgingly though. He had no love for the jinchuuriki as she was nothing but a weapon to his eyes. But Makoto had also asked him to keep that from happening and his love for her that that he had forced his hand and made him do this. So at the moment he was waiting for the Hokage's answer so he could get this over with.

He didn't have to wait long as a rap at the window brought him out of her paperwork induced trance to see the messenger eagle had returned. He quickly let it in and took the scroll off the talons before unraveling it. As he read it, he sighed in relief. Now he didn't have to find a way to keep the council from turning Yugito into a weapon. Now all he had to do was convince Yugito to pack. Somehow, he knew he was in trouble.

* * *

A few days later at the border between Kaminari no Kuni and Hi no kuni, Tenshi, with his most trusted shinobi besides him, had come personally to see Yugito off as he really didn't want anything to happen along the way that kept her from getting to her destination. He recognized the three shinobi that had come to deliver Yugito to Konoha and was quite shocked that the Hokage would send them.

They were the nearly unstoppable, Maito Gai, the apprentice of the Snake Sannin, Mitrashi Anko and finally the famed Copy Nin, Hatake Kakashi. He looked over at Yugito before motioning for her to go. She growled at him, but did as he said as she picked up her two bags and walked towards the Konoha shinobi with a pissed off expression.

All three noticed this, but didn't say anything as they figure she had no choice in this. Once she was besides them she turned around and glared maliciously at Tenshi. "Kaa-san would not approve of this." He closed his eyes and shock his head. "I really don't care. I'm following her will as I'm not the fool she was to believe that the council wouldn't turn you into a weapon." At this all three Konoha shinobi showed surprised, but hid it quickly while Yugito's eyes widen hearing this.

Tenshi saw this and decided to intervene. "Don't think I'm doing this for your well being, as I'm not. I loved your mother enough that I'm doing this for you, so be grateful that I didn't allow them to turn you into a near mindless weapon." Yugito had tears running down her face as she heard this while Anko was restraining herself from attacking the man. Both Gai and Kakashi noticed this and were ready to stop her if she couldn't hold herself back, but they didn't have to worry as he spoke again.

"Kamadaki, Mihoshi. We leave." He turned around and walked off with both following him closely, not even sparing a look back. Once they were out of sight, Anko knelt down besides a tearing Yugito and gave her a slight hug, uncharacteristic to her nature. For some reason, Yugito just melted in her touch and started crying her heart out while Anko just picked her up and motion for Kakashi and Gai to get her bags before they turned around and headed towards Konoha.

* * *

A little less than a week later, the four was on the final leg towards the gates of Konoha, much to the relief of Kakashi. If he was around Anko and Gai for to much longer he might have just offed himself to keep from going insane. _'Thank Kami for the miracle of Icha Icha. Jiraiya you are a life saver.'_

On the way they told Yugito, after they had calmed her down, about the plans on moving her in with Naruto. After a few questions, she managed to get out of them that he was kind of like her but after a certain event had turned him from a happy, energetic kid into a cold, emotionless child with no care for others. She of course was puzzled about what could cause such a change and led to one conclusion.

"Is it about his condition?" Both Jounin tensed as they heard that question. All three narrowed their eyes as they heard this, but also were surprised that she was able to pick up on their subtle hints. Anko sighed as she nodded at her question. "Yes, it part of the reason. Let me ask you a question. Were you ever treated badly back in Kumogakure?"

Yugito looked somewhat surprised by the question but nodded. "Yes, but not very often. My kaa-san was very well respect and a few gave me cold looks. But most treated me with respect as I was her child." At this, all three rose and eyebrow at this and Kakashi was beginning to berate Sarutobi for not telling Naruto's lineage to the villagers as if it worked in Kumo, why wouldn't work here. Danger be damned. He knew good and well that they had the superior shiniobi. "Well they never beat harmed you did they?" Asked Gai. Yugito shook her head. "No. As I said, they respect my kaa-san to much to do anything like that."

The jounins nodded in understanding as it made sense. Anko pulled out a object wrapped in cloth and handed it to Yugito as they neared the gate. "That your Konoha hitai-ate. You are a shinobi of the Konoha now." Yugito looked up in surprised at her. "But I'm only an academy student." Kakashi nodded his head at that. "True, but remember we evaluated your skills a couple of days ago. That was your test to see where you were at. We deemed you fit to be a gennin as you passed the test with flying colors." _'Not to mention hanging toe to toe with Gai for five minutes in a taijutsu match with him at ten percent isn't easy. I doubt most chunin could pull that off.'_

She looked at him critically before she nodded and tied it on her forehead as they walked up to the guards at the gate, who oddly enough were Kotetsu and Izumo. Kakashi was the first to speak in a somewhat humorous tone. "Don't you two ever get a break. I swear I see you doing guard duty 24-7." Both smirked at him before Izumo answered in the same tone. "We do, you just never seem to catch us on them."

Kakashi laughed at them before replying. "True. So when are you two going to get promoted. I mean you two have been chunin for a while now." Kotetsu waved him off. "Ah, I'm not sure about Izumo, but I like it as a chunin. Plus all the jounin seem to underestimate us give us the advantage." Izumo nodded at that while smirking. "Anyways, you four can go. Hokage-sama is expecting you." Kakashi smirked. "Alright then, see you at the bar tonight." The nodded as he led them to the tower and walked into the Hokage's office.

Once in their, he and Anko had to refrain from laughing as Sarutobi was refraining from stabbing the giant pile of papers on his desk with a kunai. After regaining their composure, Kakashi coughed to get his attention. Realizing other people were in the room, Sarutobi instantly threw the kunai out the window and looked towards the four. "Report." Kakashi reported what happened for the most part with Gai and Anko adding in their takes on what happened. Sarutobi nodded as he looked over at the ten year old girl.

"I see. Well, that is unfortunate. But you don't have to worry about that here." Yugito looked up at the old man and nodded her head. "Thank you Hokage-sama." He chuckled hearing this. "Don't worry about being formal with me, it makes me feel old." This made her smile and nodded at him. He smiled back and looked towards Anko. "Anko-chan, will you be kind to take Yugito-chan here to her apartment with Naruto-kun. It's the one to the right of yours." At this Kakashi paled and looked at the Hokage as if he was insane. The Hokage looked right back at him with a glare that said 'It was either her or Gai.' Kakashi winced at that before nodding his head slowly.

Anko smirked as she turned to Yugito. "Alright, come with me. I'll show you all my toys... I mean your new roommate!" At this Kakashi, Sarutobi and even Gai paled and started to pray to all deities that both jinchuuriki didn't model themselves after her, otherwise they were screwed. Yugito nodded as she followed Anko out of the room. Gai quickly left to go train leaving the Kakashi and the Sandaime in the room alone. "I think I fucked up."

Kakashi could only nodded as he watched Anko randomly terrorize some guy on the street. She definitely wasn't the best romodel for the two jinchuuriki. He rather take Gai as at least he didn't rub off on you to badly, if you could ignore him...

* * *

As Anko opened the door to the apartment next to hers, she yelled. "Oi Gaki! Get your ass out here!"

There was no response as she looked at the empty apartment with only a few things scattered around. She sighed as she walked in with Yugito behind here before yelling again.

"Gaki! If your playing the silent game on me again I'm going to use you for target practice for the next month!"

She still didn't get an answer and knew he wasn't home as he always answered to that in the past when she visited him at his old apartment. "Hm. Guess he's not in at the moment. Oh well, let's get your things unpacked." Yugito nodded as Anko pulled out a scroll and took her two bags out of it. After taking the bags from Anko, she went to the first door which was luckily the unoccupied and started to unpack the things she had.

Anko popped her head. "I'll be right back, I'm going to find the gaki. It's past his curfew." She nodded as Anko disappeared and continued to put up her clothes in the closet as that was almost all she had besides her weapons.

An half an hour later, Anko hadn't returned yet and she had everything unpacked. She walked out to go get something to eat when the door opened to reveal a bruised and bleeding boy with spiky blonde hair, tanned skin and three whisker marks on each cheek. She instantly thought he was just beaten, but taking a good look at him, it looked as if most of the bruises and cuts were self inflicted as if he been training heavily. And the fact that they were healing at an extraordinary rate made it rather unnerving sight to look at.

Naruto looked at the person in his apartment, forgetting that Sarutobi said he would be getting a roommate when he moved in. He tensed as he saw her move and was ready to fight, however girl just stood their looking at him. As they started at each other, their eyes met and something in their stomachs began to move around as they looked into each others eyes.

Unknown to them both Kyuubi and Nibi were laughing their asses off at their vessels reactions to each other.


	2. Boundless Rage

A/N: This is a combination of the remodeled 2nd and 3rd chapters. And yes, after this I'm going to try to make chapters about this length, though can't promise anything. As for why I haven't updated my others... most are close to being finished, but not there yet. Let's just say that Power of Three is about 10000 words in and I'm at the halfway point. Shattered Ice planning is mostly done, I just have to sit down and finish the second chapter. Rocks of Change is coming along nicely, just keeping jumping between these four fics, A Helping Hand, Blood Naruto and another fic that I'm not sure about releasing.

I Do Not Own Naruto.

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The two kept staring at each other not knowing what to say while ignoring the loud laughing from inside their minds. Luckily, or unluckily depending on how you see it, they didn't have to. The door that had just closed, flung open to reveal a pissed off Anko, which made Naruto show an emotion. Fear.

"GAKI!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!"

In an instant, Anko had grabbed Naruto by the collar of his shirt before he could reach the window and began to shake him violently. As he was being shook, he tried to answer her, but couldn't due to the grip Anko had on his tattered shirt was choking him. Yugito watched the scene and did everything possible to refrain from sweat dropping and failed. After watching the spectacle for a few moments, she had to intervene for Naruto's sake.

"Um... Anko-san, would you stop strangling him please. It looks like he can't breathe." Indeed Naruto couldn't breathe as he was getting blue in the face from the lack of air. Thinking about for a second, Anko put him down and waited for him to catch his breath. After waiting for Naruto to catch his breath, she asked in a more polite tone. "So gaki, answer the question."

"Training." Was his simple one word response. A tick mark developed on her forehead and in a second Anko had grabbed his collar and started to strangle him once more.

"TRAINING MY ASS! IT LOOKS LIKE YOU JUST GOT BEATEN THE HELL UP! NOW WHO DID IT!" Yugito could only stare at the scene in confusion before sighing as she walked over to the two and separated them before any permanent damage could be done. "Anko-san maybe he was training. His bruises and cuts seemed to be self inflicted as if he fell off something."

Anko took a few seconds to register what Yugito had said as she was still in kill mood. Once she did, she looked at Naruto thoroughly. _'Hm... It looks like that most of his cuts and bruises are from behind. Plus considering all the dirt on him it seemed that he was climbing. Wait a second... Why is there tree bark covering him.'_

"Gaki, what kind of training were you doing." Naruto shrugged at her as he walked towards his room before giving a quick response. "Chakra control." At this, Anko eyes widened in surprise before narrowing. _'Chakra control. Tree Climbing? I haven't taught him how to do that yet and unless Yugao has, who else could it be. Could it be... Kyuubi.'_ Her eyes showed no emotion as she hit this line of thought, but wouldn't put it past the fox to start training Naruto for it's own twisted game.

Shaking that off, she stopped Naruto from entering his room. "Alright gaki, I'll believe you for today. But I swear if you do this to me again I will use you as a snack for my babies. Now, see you tomorrow. Fu fu fu." Anko laughed crazily at the end and almost walked out before turning to Naruto as something was troubling her. "Gaki, who was watching over you while I was gone."

"Purple hair lady." Was all he said before walking into his room. Anko had to restrain herself from going into his room and giving Naruto the beating of his life. _'Damn Gaki. Give me short answers will he. Hm. Purple haired lady. Well it can't be me as I was gone. Ah, Yugao.'_ Anko turned to Yugito and happily waved goodbye before closing the door.

After a few moments, Naruto walked out and into the kitchen. Yugito looked at Naruto open the cabinet when her stomach growled loudly, making her blush lightly. Hearing it, Naruto pulled out 5 cups of ramen and began to boil water in a kettle knowing he couldn't just let her go hungry. Even with all the beatings, he was still kind to a select few, sort of, though he was unsure why he was for this girl he hardly even knew. Probably because he was going to have to live with her for a while.

Yugito walked over to the table and sat down and waited. After a few moments, she sighed as he still hadn't spoken and figured she have to be the one to initiate the conversation. "So... I'm Nii Yugito. You are?"

Naruto looked at her for a brief second and shrugged before looking back to the boiling water. She gritted her teeth at this response and tried to keep her cool and not maul the six year old.

**"Kit, she asked you a question."** Spoke Kyuubi, as she wanted him to at least try and talk to someone other than Sarutobi, Anko, Ayame and Teuchi. _'I don't want to answer.'_ Was his simple replay to her. Needless to say this answer pissed her off.** "Kit. You know I can still flood my youki to your brain right. Remember what happened the last time I did it."** Naruto's eyes widen remembering the migraine from hell and nodded his head vigorously. _'Alright kaa-san. Just please don't do that again.'_

Yugito was getting irritated by the wait and was about to go over there and ask him again and possibly to beat the hell out him if he didn't respond this time when he suddenly spoke. "Uzumaki Naruto."

She twitched at the short answer, but sighed as she was told this was going to happen, if he spoke at all. _'Well at least that's a start. Now maybe I can get more out of him.'_

**"Kitten, your going to have a difficult time getting him to open up. You know that right."** Spoke Nibi as she was slightly bored after she recovered from laughing her ass off. Yugito mentally nodded at her, but was going to try dammit. Yugito was about to speak again when the kettle began to whistle, making Naruto picked it up and poured the water in the cups. He quickly handed one to her and started to eat his at a moderate pace.

She sighed before picking up the chop sticks and tasted it, not quite sure what it was. After deeming it edible, she started eating it. Stunningly, Naruto still somehow managed to eat all his cups of ramen before she finished her first one. He stood up and started to walk to his room when Yugito spoke up. "You know it helps to talk about it."

Naruto's eyes widen before becoming saddened. Yugito was trying to figure out what she had said wrong and was about to walk over to him when he looked at her. She gasped while as a cold shiver ran down her back. His eyes where almost completely lifeless except for a small sparkle. If the fact that he wasn't breathing at the moment, she would of thought him to be dead. Closing his eyes, Naruto turned back around and walked into his room, leaving a slightly shocked Yugito. Once she recovered from her shock, she looked at the spot he was at before heading towards her room.

As she put on her night gown, she wondered if she had stayed in Kumo if she would have turned out anything like he was. Deep down inside her, she was glad that she didn't have to go through whatever had done that to him. She crawled up onto her bed before tucking herself in and falling asleep quickly as it was a tiring day.

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As the sun rose in the distance, there were currently four people in the Hokage's offices besides himself. They were none other than Anko, Gai, Kakashi and Yugao. They all waited for the Hokage speak, but it seemed that he hadn't noticed them yet, quite possibly because the literal mountain of paperwork in front of him.

Yugao stepped forward seeing that he had his own problems to deal with. "You wanted us Hokage-sama." Sarutobi looked and smiled brightly at the four, mainly because they were giving him a break from the papers surrounding him. "Yes. I know all four of you know Naruto and treat him with respect and compassion." All four nodded as the Hokage continued.

"The reason I called you here was I want you to train Naruto and Yugito in you respective areas of expertise." Four sets of eyes widened in surprise hearing this before a bright light came from Gai's mouth indicating he was smiling. Kakashi's eyes widen in horror and his hand reached into his pouch for his life line while Anko slapped her hand over Gai's mouth, keeping him from ranting about the power of youth. Suddenly a thought hit her and she asked.

"Wait. If you asked Kakashi as well, why am I here? He's better than I am in ninjutsu and would be a better teacher for the two." Sarutobi sighed, expecting her to ask this question. "True, Kakashi will be teaching ninjutsu as Gai and Yugao will be teaching taijutsu and kenjutsu respectively. But Kakashi is in Anbu and will be gone at least half the time leaving both of them without a ninjutsu instructor. Also, as much as I hate to say this, they need to learn about the more... unpleasant things that shinobi have to do."

All four of them winced, but knew it was the truth. Most upcoming shinobi quit due to this aspect of the shinobi way of life. Suddenly Gai spoke, in an subdued, yet still exuberant voice. "Why isn't the youthful Yugito being put on a team?" Sighing, the old Hokage looked at him before answering. "There is no gennin team for her to be put on at the moment as no gennin this last exams advanced in ranking. And the upcoming bunch from the academy has no slots as well since exactly twenty-four passed. So it will be at least another six months before we can put her on a team. And no, I'm not going to advance her even if you deem her fit to be a chunin. She at least deserves some time before advancing."

Each of them nodded, knowing what he meant as the old man looked out at the window before back to them. "If you accept it will be considered an ongoing B-rank mission, with bonuses thrown in every now and then depending on their advancement. Plus you can still take other missions, just let them and your fellow instructors know before hand." Each thought about it for a few moments before each one replied.

Anko shrugged her shoulders, though on the inside she was ecstatic that she could teach the gaki while molding Yugito into a miniature version of herself. "Sure, training the girl and the gaki would be pretty fun. very fun. Ku ku ku." The other four in the room cringed in fright as they knew what she called fun, wasn't exactly something most sane people would do for fun.

After recovering from the fear she placed in them, the ticking time bomb known as Gai decided to explode. "IT WOULD BE A HONOR TO TRAIN SUCH YOUTHFUL UPCOMING SHINOBI! I, MAITO GAI, SWEAR THAT I WILL TRAIN THEM TO MY FULL EXSTENT OR I WILL RUN FIVE HUNDRED LAPS AROUND KONOHA ON MY HANDS WHILE CARRYING A HALF TON BOULDER!" Once again, the other four people in the room cringed in fear, hoping that they wouldn't get involved with his outrageous ranting.

Once the Green Beast of Konoha had calmed down, Yugao inserted her pinkies in her ears to clear out the ringing. After doing so, she nodded at the Hokage's request/mission. "I don't see why not. Besides, you know I'll watch Naruto anyways, so yes." Sarutobi smiled at her before turning to the still shell shocked Kakashi, awaiting his answer.

Managing to recover from the fright that Anko and Gai had put him in, Kakashi started to go over the good in the bad. The good being that he got a little time off from the hectic life that Anbu had and he could watch over his sensei legacy/son. The down sides being that he had to be around Anko and Gai, though Yugao wasn't to bad, and he couldn't read Icha Icha in front of Naruto without risking castration from either purple haired kunoichi. Sighing in resignation, Kakashi nodded. "I'll do it."

Sarutobi nodded with a slight smile on his face that all four had agreed. "Good. Today is the first day of training. Dismissed." Anko and Yugao left in a swirl of leaves, while Kakashi turned into smoke, indicating that he was a Kage Bunshin much to the dismay of the Hokage. Gai on the other hand just disappeared. In an instant, a hole suddenly appeared in the door that was oddly shaped like a man. Sarutobi couldn't take it any more. First, the paperwork on his desk, then Kakashi using a Kage Bunshin in an important meeting and now this.

"DAMMIT GAI! OPEN THE DOOR THEN GO THROUGH IT! KAKASHI! I WILL BAN YOU FROM BUYING ICHA ICHA AGAIN IF YOU DO THAT ONE MORE TIME! AND YOU!" He pointed viciously at the paperwork on his desk. "GO BACK TO HELL WHERE YOU BELONG!"

Needless to say he was having a bad day and it was only starting.

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Rolling around in his sleep, Naruto noticed an odd smell. He slowly sat up and sniffed the air trying to figure out what it was. _'What is it? It smells like something is on fire... Wait who's cooking?'_ Somehow, he had forgotten that Yugito was now living with him. Kyuubi sighed before she reminded him. **"Naruto, you have a roommate now."**

He nodded at her statement as he had just remembered himself before getting off his bed, grabbing a pair of clothes and heading towards the joint bathroom they had between their rooms.

Once he was out of the shower, Naruto walked out of his room wearing a black under armor shirt with a sleeveless red vest above it. On his legs, he wore a pair of black shorts that reached his knees, a pair of red leg sleeves on his shin and a pair of black combat boots on his feet. His hair was spiky as usual, though it was little matted down due to it being wet. His eyes were dark blue, but didn't have the vibrant hues they once held. They were duller and keep fading each passing day with the treatment he received.

He quickly walked out of his room to see Yugito, wearing her white night gown, over the oven, cooking something that smelled like... a roasted bird? He blinked in confusion seeing this._ 'I didn't have anything other than ramen. Where the bird come from?'_ Kyuubi sat in her cage trying not to laugh her ass off as Naruto was apparently blind cause he didn't notice the bloody blue feathers that where in the trash can. Naruto was still very confused making Kyuubi sigh as she had to explain to him **"Kit, it called hunting. She killed a bird and decided to cook it."**

Realizing that someone else was in the room, Yugito looked up to see Naruto looking at her with an odd look on his face. "Mourning. I'm making breakfast." _'Damn bird, waking me up. And hopefully I won't burn... OH SHIT! IT'S ON FIRE!'_

Naruto nodded not sure what to think as Yugito grabbed the pan and put it the sink. He mentally sweat dropped at this along with Kyuubi. _'Well... at least she's trying. Maybe she isn't too bad after all.'_ Kyuubi nodded at this, slightly happy that he was already improving with her here, though she had to point something out. **"Kit, whatever you do, don't comment on taste. It's going to be terrible, so just try to muscle your way through it. Consider this training."**

Naruto couldn't help but gulp at this as Yugito handed him a plate with the burned bird on it. They both cautiously bit into it. Yugito spat it back out as Naruto gagged on it, as he tried to swallow it and just couldn't do it. "It's terrible! Damn! I knew I should have served it raw! Screamed Yugito as she scrapped the taste off her tongue.

Within two seconds of screaming this, the door swung open to reveal Anko, Kakashi and Yugao, worried about what was going on. All three couldn't help but laugh at the scene in front of them. Yugao wiped a tear from her eye and was about to close the door when she noticed a green streak heading towards them and thought better of it. Soon as she stepped out of the way, Gai suddenly appeared in the room. Once he noticed the situation, he couldn't help but laugh something about the flames of youth as Naruto managed to spit out the piece of bird he had been chocking on.

Once they managed to control themselves, Kakashi spoke, though still chuckling a bit. "Well, I'm glad I didn't send Pakkun over to get you two. Though you should pay better attention, the bird had a note to meet us on it. So it was a good thing that we decided to come get you, otherwise we'd be waiting all day for you two." _'And I'm not used to waiting on other people.'_

Yugito blinked in confusion as Naruto was panting on the ground, getting his breath back. "Why didn't you just send a messenger bird for us?" All four sweat dropped at this while Yugao replied. "Um... that was a messenger bird." She blinked in confusion. "No it wasn't. Eagles are." Yugao slumped her head at this as Kakashi took her place. "Here in Konoha we use blue birds for small messages, otherwise we use a hawk." Her eyes widen before a slight sweat drop appeared on the back of her head. "Woops."

Anko couldn't help but to laugh at this while Kakashi chuckled lightly. Once they had recomposed themselves, Yugao spoke up. "Well anyways, clean up a bit. We're going to be your instructors for the next six months, and possibly longer than that." Yugito nodded as she went to her room, probably to use the bathroom and to get dressed, while Naruto stood waiting for her so he could start training. Once she was out in her normal attire, which consisted of a black shirt with the shoulders being white, black pants and her hitai-ate strapped to her forehead, they followed the four jounin to a nearby training ground that wouldn't be in use.

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After about ten minutes, they had reached a secluded training ground. The four jounin turned around and looked at the two jinchuuriki before Yugao spoke, being the spokesman of the group. "Alright, from now on this will be where we meet here around this time every day." The two nodded as Kakashi took the silence to speak. "Now, we won't be here every day, but we'll let you know before hand if we can."

"Now of course we aren't going to be training you all at the same time, as it would be a waste of time to do so. So we've set up a schedule for you two." Anko said while spinning a kunai around her finger. Yugao nodded as she continued. "To begin every day, you will train with Gai here for two to three hours, depending on what he gives you to do." _'Meaning three hours as he is going to give you nearly impossible tasks.'_

"YOSH MY YOUTHFULL FRIENDS! YOUR TIME WITH ME WILL BE SPENT ON DEVELOPING YOUR STRENGTH, SPEED AND TAIJUTSU!" Everyone winced from his volume while the jounin could only feel sorry for the young gennin and future shinobi in front of them. Being the first to shake off the ringing in her ears, Yugao spoke up again. "Then after finishing up with you'll spend an hour or two with me practicing kenjutsu." _'Probably just a hour due to you will both be totally exhausted after Gai is finished with you.'_

"Then you'll be training with me for two hours in whatever I deem fit at the time. It can be anything from chakra control to studying anatomy. It just matters on how I feel that day." The other jounins winced at that, knowing she always had fluctuating moods. Sighing, Kakashi turned towards the two slightly pale kids. "Then after all that, I will train you for a hour or two in ninjutsu." _'And since I can't be late without fear of losing my precious books or my manhood, I'll be here on time. Now I remember why I hate working with Anko.'_

"So that's our training schedule?" asked Yugito getting three head nodding and a youthful reply from Gai. "Well that doesn't sound to bad." Anko, Kakashi and Yugao winced at this as they looked at Gai before they all thought one thing. _'She's going to be taking that back in a few minutes.'_ They all sighed and turned to Gai as he started speaking.

"YOSH! MY YOUTHFUL STUDENTS! TODAY WE BEGIN YOUR RIGOROUS TRAINING WITH ME! NOW I WANT YOU TO PUT THESE ON AND TO RUN AROUND KONOHA 10 TIMES!" Hearing this, both Naruto and Yugito's eyes were bulging out of their heads when he pulled out weights that caused small craters on the ground. All three of the others jounins sweat dropped at this before Anko walked up to him and slapped Gai on the back of the head. "I'm not sure about Yugito but I know for a fact A SIX YEAR OLD CAN'T POSSIBLY DO THAT! AND FOR THE LOVE OF KAMI! I DOUBT SOME JOUNIN COULD WEAR THAT MUCH WEIGHT CONSTANTLY MUCH LESS TWO CHILDERN!"

Gai nodded and went into a thinking pose as Anko sighed and pulled out some weights, that were much lighter, she bought just for this occasion and handed them to the two jinchuuriki. Once they put them on Gai spoke up again, and when I say spoke, I mean screamed. "ALRIGHT! I WANT YOU RUN 50 LAPS AROUND THIS TRAINING GROUNDS AND THEN..."

The other three jounin couldn't help but sigh as they tuned him out, but felt pity for the two jinchuuriki. They had a feeling that Naruto would be wishing for another beating while Yugito would willing jump off the Hokage monument when Gai was finished with them.

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Around a few hours later, the two jinchuuriki weren't in the best of conditions. You might wonder why, but it was quite simple. After finishing with Gai's extreme training, Yugito was currently clinging to a tree for dear life while Naruto was having a nice visit with his old friend, the ground. It didn't help that both were covered head to toe in dirt and bruises and their muscles were strained from the weights Anko had given them.

Once she had semi recovered, Yugito glared at the green abomination with all the hatred she could muster. _'FIFTY LAPS FOLLOWED BY FIVE HUNDRED PUSH-UPS AND SIT-UPS! 500 PUNCHES AND KICKS TO THE TRAINING DUMMIES FOR EACH LIMB INCLUDING MY HEAD! AND THEN HE WANTED US TO PRATICE TREE JUMP WITH THIS WEIGHT ON! IS THIS MAN HUMAN!'_ Nibi decided to answer for the sake of Yugito's sanity. **"Kitten, you don't want that to be answered."** If the truth was to be said, Nibi was afraid of the green spandex wearing man if this what he called a 'light workout'.

Naruto currently wasn't think about anything at the moment other than the bright white light in front of him. He was mesmerized by it and started to slowly walk towards it. Suddenly Kyuubi appeared next to him.** "KIT! DO NOT GO INTO THE LIGHT!"** His response was so comical that it would have normally made her laugh. _'So pretty. I have to touch it.'_ Kyuubi sweat dropped before grumbling as she used her tails to restrain Naruto from reaching his goal.

Yugao walked up and saw the condition the two were in and sweat dropped at the scene. "Um...Gai, what did you do to them?" Asked Yugao in slight fear as she noticed the condition of both of them. Gai was about to respond when she interrupted him. "Never mind. Don't answer that."

After giving Naruto and Yugito a soldier pill, blood pill, some pain killers, and waiting two hours for them to recover, Anko began her session of training as Yugao said she would start teaching them once they got used to Gai's 'training' and the fact that her time was already up.

"Alright gakis. I'll be training you in chakra control today. So we'll begin with tree walking." She would have shown them how to do it when Naruto decided to start and just ran up the tree. When he got half way up, his foot slipped and he fell to the ground, head first. Anko sighed as she caught his foot as his head was inches from hitting the ground. "Alright gaki, let's try that again, but this time try to flip in mid air so you don't land on your head."

Naruto nodded as she let him go as Yugito walked up before rushing up the tree. She made it a little higher than Naruto when she slipped and flipped in mid air and landed on all fours like a cat would. Anko could refrain from smirking at this. _'Well at least one of them has grace.'_ She thought this as Naruto made the same height as Yugito and slipped once more and landed on his but. She shook her head before turning to Yugito. "So I'm guessing they had already taught you this in Kumo." She nodded at her before rushing up the tree again.

They continued practicing this until two hours when they stopped and looked at Anko, apparently waiting for Kakashi. After about five minutes, Yugito spoke. "Anko-san, isn't Kakashi-san suppose to train us as well." Anko sighed as she waited for the ever late copy nin before sighing. "Just give him a few minutes..." In a poof of smoke Kakashi appeared with his eyes in upside down U's.

"Sorry for being late, I had to help a old women cross the street before buying the latest addition of my favorite book series." Anko sweat dropped and was in shock. Kakashi had actually told the truth for once in his life. He smirked seeing this before speaking. "Well since Anko has been teaching you tree walking, I want you to continue it for the rest of the day or till you learned it." At this Naruto raised an eyebrow as Yugito asked what he was thinking. "Okay. But aren't you suppose to teach us ninjutsu."

He nodded at her question before answering. "True, but having better chakra control makes learning the jutsus easier to learn. Therefore I want you to have better control and higher reserves before I start tutoring you." The neko vessel nodded her head as it made sense as Naruto just shrugged his shoulders before resuming running up the tree as he wanted to start learning some jutsu to defend himself. Anko nodded at Kakashi before shushining away as he took control of the training session.

Meaning he was reading his new Icha Icha Paradise as he pointed out what they were doing wrong every couple of minutes. After about an hour an a half, he stopped them as Anko reappeared in the training grounds. She turned to the panting jinchuuriki before smiling as Kakashi shushined off after saying goodbye. "Gaki! Yugao and I have restocked your frig. All you had was ramen and you need other kinds of food. Plus we got a few things for you as well Yugito."

Naruto shrugged as he really didn't care, but if they got rid of his ramen he would come after with the power of a thousand super novas while Yugito nodded as she was slightly happy to hear that there was other food than the strange noodles. All three of them walked off and headed towards the apartments. Once they arrived, Anko dropped them off at their room. "Alright gakis, see you tomorrow and don't do anything that I wouldn't do." She said hinting at something that only the two bijuu had caught while the two looked confused as to what that meant.

Sighing, Yugito walked to her room and headed in the bathroom. She quickly looked the doors to make sure Naruto could walk in on her and pulled off her clothes as she wanted to take a bath. Unfortunately for her, the door suddenly unlocked itself as Naruto walked in as he need to take a bath as well. Suddenly both tensed as they started at the other while a certain purple hair jounin was laughing her ass off as she hid herself with a cloaking and silencing jutsu. She was glad that she unlocked the door as this was better than torturing poor Iruka.

Yugito just stared at Naruto in shock as she was topless at the moment. Of course Naruto was six and really didn't care about this, he was just trying to figure out why she was suddenly picking up anything she could and started throwing it at him. "GET OUT OF HERE YOU LITTLE PRICK! I'M TRYING TO TAKE A BATH HERE!"

Naruto dodged the objects she threw at him and was beginning to wonder why she was acting like this when his eyes widen seeing a large object being thrown at him. _'HOLY SHIT! HOW DID SHE MANAGE TO GET THE KITCHEN SINK!'_ Kyuubi sweat dropped as she would have berated Naruto on walking in on a girl in the bathroom, but she was currently like Anko. Laughing her ass off. Seeing the sink being thrown at him, Naruto rushed out of the room not wanting to irritate the girl any more. He shook his head as he walked to the kitchen.

_'I wonder what that was all about. And what were those weird lumps on her chest? I'll have to ask kaa-san about those later.'_ From within him, Kyuubi suddenly stopped laughing and her eyes went wide as she tried to find a excuse to get around explaining him the birds and the bees.

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A few weeks later, Yugito was getting irritated. Today they had the day off since only Anko was available but she got called by Ibiki so she canceled their training for the day. She could deal with that, but the fact that today was an holiday, so they gave Naruto strict orders to stay inside. So she was kind of pissed that she had to watch over him, not that he need her to it was just common curtsy to do so as he was still a child. And then add the fact that no matter how much she tried to get him to talk he would only responded with one, maybe two words at the most.

Yugito herself wasn't a talkative person, but dammit she wanted to know more about him. So she was going to find out one way or another. So she walked behind Naruto, who was currently blankly looking out the window when Yugito. Sensing this, he turned around and noticed that she was looking at him with the same irritated expression of Anko's and her arms crossed in front of her chest. He shrugged his shoulders before turning back, not really caring. A tick mark grew on Yugito's head and she could no longer control herself. She quickly grabbed his collar and yank him into the air.

"TALK DAMMIT! WHERE IS THE DAMN ON SWITCH FOR SPEECH!"

"Why would you want to talk to me." Naruto spoke stoically, surprising the older jinchuuriki as she let go him. He hit the floor and grumbled about people dropping him, she quickly regained her composure. "Well, since we will be living with each other for at least the next couple of years, I figured that we should at least get to know each other." Naruto shrugged as he really didn't care. "Nothing to know about me." Yugito restrained from strangling him before sighing as she sat down next to him and looked out the window.

It was then she noticed what he was looking at. He was watching the children playing on the street below with their parents smiling at their antics. Her face dropped seeing this. She never really did have much of a childhood. Her mother died when she was young and Tenshi never really let her be a child when he took care of her. She really never had the time to grieve for her mother's death as she was put into an intense training almost immediately after. A small tear drop fell from her eyes before she got up and quickly rushed out of the room. leaving a bewildered Naruto, trying to figure out what just happened.

_"What was that about?'_ He shrugged before turning back to the kids on the street and sneered at them. He quickly turned away and sat on the small couch that was brought in and turned on the TV that Anko had bought for them. A few moments later, he could hear sounds coming from Yugito's room. Listening closer to them, he could tell that it was her and that she was... crying.

This bewildered him even more as he stood up and went to check on her. He wouldn't admit it, but he was kind of enjoy her company as she felt familiar. It was as if she felt like... him. He shook that off as he walked up to the door an opened it as he was never taught anything about manners.

In her room, Yugito was laying on her bed with her head buried in a pillow. She curled up into herself as the tears started falling faster. Her muffled sobs grew louder and louder by the second. Nibi could only watch as her container as she cried her heart out. She knew this was long over due and was about to pull her into her mind when the door opened to reveal a slightly curious Naruto.

Hearing her door open, Yugito looked up a bit to see Naruto before burying her head back in the pillow. "Go away!" At this Naruto was even more confused. Ignoring her comment, he walked over to her and examined her state. A small part of his old self returned as she seemed to be like he was after one of his beatings and he sat on the bed and did the only thing he could think of. He rubbed the middle of her back, hoping it would help calm her down.

Yugito stiffened at his touch as it was foreign for both of them. She could tell he was trying to comfort her, but this was strange. These past couple of weeks he rarely acted out of anything, much less compassion. So why was he doing so now? **"Because kitten, believe it or not, he has gotten somewhat attached to you. Think about it, he's cold to everyone, but to you, the snake woman, the weapon lady, the one eyed pervert and oddly enough the green creature that gives me nightmares he treats you'll slightly different. It's as if you five are his family, even if he doesn't show it."**

She blinked in surprise hearing her tenant speak up and actually making sense. She looked over at Naruto and into his eyes. They were still emotionless for the most part, but the emotions they did show were pain, suffering, loneliness and... compassion? A light smile appeared on her face as she wiped the tears from her face. "Thank you, Naruto."

"Hn." Was his simple response as he had accomplished what he needed to do before walking out of the room leaving Yugito with the light smile still on her face. _'Maybe the real him that they talked about is still there. Just buried underneath his pain.'_ She wiped the remaining tears from her face and walked out of the room to see Naruto watching a gory anime with lots of blood shed. She shook her head and sighed. _'Then again, it's probable that it's just a once in a while thing.'_

Yugito sighed before seating herself in a comfortable position on the couch and watch the blood bath anime with Naruto actually smiling. She shivered seeing that and edged away from the slightly psycho jinchuuriki.

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Early the next mourning, Naruto woke up due to the sun rays hitting his eyes. He mumbled something about destroying the sun before putting on his normal attire with his weights before he head for the kitchen to make breakfast, somewhat happy Yugito wasn't up and making it as the last few times that happened he nearly chocked to death as he tried to muscle his way through the horrible taste.

After boiling the water and devouring his customary three cups of ramen, he noticed that Yugito hadn't woken up yet. He was wondering if he should just leave her here and head off without out her, but thought against it and didn't want to wait for her to get there. He walked to her room and opened to see that she was currently sleeping up in a ball... drooling.

Slightly disgusted by this fact, he pulled out a stick from... your guess is good as mine, and started pocking her with it. With a loud growl, Yugito grabbed the stick and snapped it in two. She slowly sat up as she let her eyes adjust to the light before focusing on Naruto's form. He would have walked out, but something told him to stay... besides Kyuubi telling him to pull out and take a picture.

A tick mark developed on her forehead as she noticed Naruto staring at her and the fact that she was wearing barely wearing anything other than her night gown made her uneasy about the situation. She would have screamed for him to get out when he spoke. "We got training to day, so hurry up." Yugito's eyes widen as she looked at the clock and cursed loudly before nodding at him.

As he turned around to leave the room, she suddenly spoke up. "Naruto... how does it ...feel to be alone... without any parents." Naruto stopped dead in his tracks and turned back around and glared at Yugito, who was sitting up on the edge of her bed. After a moments pause, she began to squirm under his stone glare. She was about to tell him to forget about it when he responded.

"It was difficult. I never had anyone other than the Hokage-jiji, old man Ichiraku, his daughter, Neko-san, Tora-san, Inu-san, green man and psycho lady ever care for me. Everyone else just treated me like an outcast." Yugito nodded as she had figured this much out already. "So, just because you hold Kyuubi the rest of the village sees you as a plague." Naruto stiffen as she mentioned his kaa-san and hissed at her. "How do you know about her?" Yugito sighed as she stood out of bed and walked over to him.

"Let see, you talk out loud to someone that isn't visibly there, zone out at times and you don't notice anything around you around you when you do, I figured it out after being given enough hints and the fact that we are the same. I am a jinchuuriki just like you."

Naruto's eyes went wide hearing the last comment. He backed away in shock as he looked at her. But he wasn't afraid, it was just pure shock. "Y-you're l-like m-me." Yugito walked over to him and kneeled in front of him and looked him dead in the eye before smiling lightly. "Yes. I contain Nibi no Nekomata, the two tail hell cat."

After getting over the shock she had put him in, Naruto looked at her and was about to speak when a loud voice that frightened him beyond all reason was heard.

"GAKIS! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE. WE HAVE TRAINING TO DO! OR DO YOU WANT TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH GAI'S TRAINING ALL DAY!"

Needless to say, Yugito magically put her clothes on within a second and they rushed out of her room not wanting to train with that man all day.

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The day passed quickly as they only trained with Anko and Gai as both Kakashi and Yugao were in the same Anbu squad and the squad was out on a mission and shouldn't be back for a couple more days. As they were they finished their anatomy lesson, which both Naruto and Yugito were heavily blushing by the end of the day as she decided to go over the birds and the bees with them, Naruto turned around and headed towards town. "I need to think. I'm going to wonder around for a little while."

Anko quickly turned around hearing this. "Hell no gaki! Have you forgotten that tomorrow is..." He wasn't there. She looked around and didn't see him anywhere nearby and was wondering how he managed to get away so quickly. She gritted her teeth before turning back to Yugito. "Check the south side, I'll take the north." Yugito nodded and took off. Anko quickly jumped onto a roof as she began searching for him while mentally cussing him out. _'Dammit! When the gaki doesn't want to be found, it's a bitch and a half trying to find him.'_

In the slums on the south side of the city, Naruto was currently walking towards his old apartment. This was the poverty stricken district of Konoha and it was mostly vacant due to the fact that he had lived there until just recently. Spreading out his senses, he noted that he was being followed by a few drunks, but really didn't care. He could handle a few of them, he just hoped that they didn't go get more people to join in. He could handle a few, but he guessed that he was about as strong as most average academy students were.

Kyuubi had already had known they been there for a while and one of them had already left, so she was trying to convince her vessel to leave.** "Kit, I think we should go back. There's..."** Naruto shook his head mentally interrupting her. "Not yet. I want to clear my head out first." Kyuubi growled at him and sent some youki into him to try and alert a few nearby shinobi that things were about to get ugly since her vessel was being stubborn again.

As he was zoned out, Naruto bumped into someone. He quickly looked up and saw a pink haired women grinning evil as she noticed him and he was surrounded by a mob of at least twenty people. He mentally cursed that he didn't listen to his kaa-san when the woman spoke. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here. The demon thinks he can walk around freely like he owns the place. I think it time we teach you a lesson."

Hearing this, Naruto began to search for an escape route and quickly found one. He dashed towards the alley, jumping over a few surprised villagers before heading into it. They quickly recovered and gave chase much to his dismay. He started to pray to whatever supreme deity that was looking on that this alley wasn't a dead end. Unfortunately, they had forsaken him once more as it was exactly that.

Looking around, he notices the only escape was to use his training over the past couple of weeks. He jumped up into the air and landed on the wall and started to run up the wall and made it to the top, only to notice that there was a shinobi wearing a chunin vest with silver hair waiting for him. He gave an evil smirk before he attempted to grab Naruto. Naruto had other plans as he went through a few hand seals as he managed to get away from the man's grasp.

_"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!"_

He breathed in deeply and released it sending five small fireballs towards the unsuspecting chunin. The shinobi wasn't expecting this and took the front of the attack. Naruto quickly passed him as it was meant to be a distraction, but to his horror was grabbed by the same chunin. "Not getting away that easy."

His eyes widen as he was thrown back towards the awaiting mob. He gritted his teeth as he went through ever possible scenario his young brain could go through, and none of them ended out well for him. Closing his eyes, he prepared for the beating that was about to happen when he hit the ground. But he didn't as he felt someone catch him.

As Naruto was feet from hitting the ground, a black and white blur suddenly caught him and landed on the opposing wall before rushing up it, leaving a stunned crowd as they had no clue what had just happened. The silver haired chunin snarled and gave them chase with a few of the gennin that were in the mob following as well.

Opening his eyes, Naruto looked up and noticed that Yugito was the one that caught him. His eyes widen seeing this and looking back he could see that the shinobi of the mob were in hot pursuit. He wasn't the only to notice as she had as well and started to push chakra into her legs. She gritted her teeth as she could tell the chunin was gaining on her. Trying to go over her options on what to do now, the chunin had caught them and back handed her into a wall of the nearby alley.

Naruto skidded across the roof and he grabbed the sides of it to keep from falling. It wasn't to be as he fell to the ground, landing feet first. He refrained from screaming as some thing snapped when he hit the ground and fell to the ground clutching his left leg. Looking around the alley, he noticed Yugito was semi-conscious as she laid against the wall.

Then his eyes narrowed as the chunin along with the three gennin jumped into the alley. "Hey Mizuki-sensei. Can I be the first to beat him." The gennin on the far light said with glee in his voice. Mizuki smirked before nodding. "Sure, but since neither of them can move, I think we should teach the girl a lesson for interfering. Right guys."

All three of the gennin smirked at this as two of them grabbed Yugito while the other picked up Naruto. He gripped the back of his neck and forced him to watch them tear off Yugito's clothes. His eyes widen realizing what was going to happen before anger began to swell in side him, remembering the same happening to him almost two years ago.

Mizuki quickly got behind the girl as Yugito eyes widen when he pressed his average size member against her. It was at this moment, Naruto let his anger consume him. He gritted his teeth in rage as he began to pull out Kyuubi's youki. Memories of what happened to him on that fateful day began to flash through his eyes as he began to push the head inside her. Suddenly the last memory hit him and he could remember the man's face, it was the same.

His blood began boiling as Kyuubi began giving her tenant as much youki as he could handle. But something happened that she wasn't prepared for, he was calling out more than he could handle. In an instant red youki exploded from him, burning the gennin that held him. The youki swirled violently around him as it slowly began to meld with him while his broken leg healed in a grotesque display. His eyes turned crimson as his iris became dilated. His fingers lengthen into claws as his whisker marks thickened. His fangs grew longer and harder.

Then to everyone's horror there, the youki began to take a shape. It was that of a fox, but instead of nine or even one tail, there was two were waving madly behind him. And a third was beginning to grow. Blood began to seep out of his pours and mix with the youki as his body wasn't able to hand the amount of youki that he was putting out. He opened his eyes to reveal two crimson eyes with tears of blood streaking down his face. Blood lust and killing intent washed over the Konoha shinobis and they felt fear as Naruto looked at the madly, wanting their blood.

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Gai was giving Sarutobi a briefing on how the training went for the week with Yamato in the room when they felt a strong pulse of Kyuubi chakra. All of their eyes widen feeling the amount and knew Naruto was in deathly trouble if he was using this much. All three shot out of the room with speeds unseen even with the Sharingan.

Anko was jumping roof to roof, looking for the annoying gaki that she considered a younger brother and sometimes even her son. Then she felt it. The large amount of Kyuubi's youki. Her eyes widen in recognition and raced towards the pulse at full speed, hoping the gaki was alright and was ready to tear the ones attacking him limb from limb.

Both Kakashi and Yugao had just arrived early from their squads mission when they felt the pulse. Yugao took of at full speed forgetting up checking in with the guards while Kakashi threw him his ID before racing after her. _'Shit! Isn't he suppose to have someone with him at all times when he goes into the village!'_ Yugao thought in distress as she and an equally worried Kakashi rushed towards the pulse.

Around the village, the villagers and shinobi started to have the dreaded feeling they had six, almost seven years ago as the blood lust and killing intent that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was putting out washed over them in waves.

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Naruto looked at the chunin that was about to enter Yugito and snarled viciously. His killing intent spike tremendously as he hunched over on all fours. In an instant he had blurred out of their vision and the sound off flesh being ripped through was heard. Blood splattered on Yugito's bare skin as the two gennin let go of her as four large gashes appeared on their necks before they fell to the ground, lifeless.

Mizuki quickly jumped away from Yugito and was about to run away as he was afraid of this Naruto. The young boy never put up any fights before, but now... this was petrifying. He tried to run off, but suddenly a clawed hand pierced the center of his chest. He looked back to see Naruto's blood thirsty eyes glaring at him with satisfaction.

His fear doubled as Naruto lifted him into the air like a doll before he started to slash Mizuki's face, leaving large gash marks. He then quickly moved to his left arm and ripped it off with ease. He pulled out his arm out of his chest before slashing through his spine. Mizuki screamed in pain as he felt to the ground and started to twitch madly as blood pool began to form around him. Naruto smirked seeing his before placing his boot on his and concentrating the youki flowing through him to his foot. In an instant, his skull cracked and flattened as Naruto crushed it. His brains splattered over Naruto and the nearby Yugito in a gruesome display.

Yugito shivered uncontrollably as she saw this. This, this wasn't him. This was... a monster. Yet she couldn't hold it against him. If in his position, she would be doing the same. These men, no scum didn't deserve to live. She unconsciously began to call on Nibi's youki as Naruto turned to the final shinobi.

The young gennin was frightened, scratched that. He was terrified beyond what was believed to be physically possible. The crotch of his pants was soaked as he had lost control of his blatter and the smell around him indicated the same happened with his bowels. Naruto snarled viciously at the boy and in an instant he was on him. He gripped the gennins arms before pulling with everything he had and ripped them out of their sockets. The boy apparently didn't feel anything as he just looked on with Naruto in unimaginable terror.

With a quick kick, the boy was on the ground and Naruto pulled his hand back for the death blow when he heard a whisper behind him as two arms covered in blackish purple youki wrapped around his chest. "Naruto. Please stop. This isn't like you."

He looked behind him to see a slightly frighten, yet sincere Yugito. Yes, she was frighten seeing what the young boy did, but she didn't care as he did it for her safety. Seeing her for a reason Naruto couldn't explain, calmed him down. Kyuubi's youki started to slowly dissipate from his system. With the lighten amount of blood lust and killing intent, the armless gennin passed out as the pain hit him like a one ton truck. As the youki completely left him and Nibi's left hers, Naruto passed out from blood loss.

Yugito gripped him tightly, her eyes wide in fear as she saw the amount of blood covering him and she could smell that it was his. She didn't know how it happened, but she would have had to guess it had to be him using nearly triple the amount of youki his body could handle. She fell to her knees as she was tired herself, yet didn't let go of Naruto and held him closely to her.

It was at this moment Anko, Gai, Kakashi, Sarutobi and Yugao along with other shinobi arrived to see the horrifying aftermath of Naruto's rage. Blood was splattered over the walls and the two children, but Naruto was soaked in it, and it seemed to be his blood. All the kunoichi there instantly noticed Yugito's state and the fact that the chunin with a crushed skull had his member in plain sight. Both Anko and Yugao had to reign in their killing intent to keep from scaring everyone, mainly the two younglings. Anko quickly jumped down with intent on finishing the final gennin of when Gai and Kakashi stopped her.

"LET ME GO! I'LL FUCKING KILL HIM!"

Both elites held onto her tightly, not giving her the chance. Kakashi seeing they were failing to keep her from doing so, opted to calm her down. "Anko. Calm down. I'm feeling the same, but we need to know what happened. Then you can finish the job." Anko reasoning heard it, but her maternal instincts had taken over and she really didn't care. Kakashi sighed as he chopped the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious.

While this was happening, Yugao had jumped down and her eyes widen at the sight of Naruto. His pores were bleeding heavily and at this rate, not even Kyuubi could heal him. "We need to get Naruto to the hospital now!" Both Yamato and Sarutobi jumped down and nodded quickly seeing Naruto's state. Yamato tried to pick Naruto up, but Yugito snarled at him as she gripped him tighter. Yugao tried reasoning with the young blonde haired girl, but all she got in response was her snarling. Sighing, she hit a pressure point in the back of her neck and knocked her out.

Seeing this, Yamato quickly grabbed Naruto and shushined to the hospital. Sarutobi turned to Gai and Kakashi who had heard the whole thing before speaking. "Kakashi, take him to the hospital and assign one of your subordinates to watch him till we can send him to Ibiki. Gai, take Anko home. We don't need her at the hospital right now. Yugao, take Yugito-chan to the hospital on the double." All three nodded as they shushined out of the area with their respective charge.

Sarutobi sighed, he was really getting to old for this shit.

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Sorry, had to leave it a cliffhanger. (Grins Evilly)


	3. My Bloody Family

A/N: This is a completely remade version of the original versions Chapter Four without the time skip. There was so much I could have done with it and I just didn't and I take the blame for that. This was the reason why I didn't put it in last chapter, other than the last chapter being moderately long on it's own. This chapter is a little shorter than I wantd as well, but still gets the job done. Anyways, sit back and enjoy... Ku ku ku.

I Do Not Own Naruto, much to my displeasure. BRING BACK JIRAIYA-SAMA! DAMN YOU KISHIMOTO! DAMN YOU! But thank you for removing one of Sasuke's eyes. Don't hate Sasuke's character... just hate cannon Sasuke...

* * *

In an instant, Yamato was at the front door of the hospital and rushed to the closes medic. Unfortunately the medic weren't to fond of the bloody mess in his arms. "Hn. The demon again. Just let it die already." 

Yamato growled in anger and was about to pull rank when a massive amount of killing intent hit both of them.

Inuzaku Tsume was visiting Hana in the hospital as she had injured herself during her gennin test when she attacked her jounin sensei and missed with Tsuga. Needless to say the result weren't pretty when she snapped her right arm and left leg when she collide with the tree, hard.

As she was happily chatting with her daughter, she felt the youki spike and rushed out of the room after telling Hana she would be right back. Once she had reached the door, causes shushin wasn't allowed inside the building, the spike had already stopped and Yamato shushined just behind her with a bloodied mess in her hands.

Once she noticed who it was and hearing the medic refuse to help him, her animalistic side took over. No one messed with her godson. She would have taken him in when he was younger, but due to Minato's request before he sealed Kyuubi, he wanted Naruto to live a humble life, not a pampered one like that he would have if he lived with a clan.

Shaking that thought off, she unleashed an unreal amount of killing intent and focused it on the poor medic. Yamato sensing the danger known as an enraged female Inuzaku wisely leapt out of the way when she bloodily grabbed the medic and started shaking him.

"SO! IT'S YOUR DUTY TO HEAL _ANY_ PERSON THAT COMES INTO THIS HOSPITAL!"

As she was bloodily shaking the unfortunate medic, though he did deserve it, others came out to see what the noise was about and noticed Naruto's bloody form in Yamato's arms.

Unlike the first medic, most of them were elder shinobi and knew that Naruto was Naruto and grabbed a stretcher and placed him on it. The head medic quickly used a diagnostic jutsu and gasped in fright at the extent of the wounds. He began barking orders faster than Yamato could hear and they quickly rushed Naruto to the emergency room.

Yamato would have followed, but he was still slightly petrified at the sight of the Inuzaku clan head strangling the medic before delivering a knee to his groin. He winced at this and felt a small pang of sympathy for the man, but that was it.

Shaking that off, he headed towards the emergency room with Tsume not to far behind him.

* * *

A few hours later in the waiting room, a unconscious Anko, an oddly quiet Gai, a brooding Kakashi, a worried Sandaime Hokage, a slightly nervous Tsume, a pacing Yugao, a sullen Yamato and a dressed Yugito were waiting as the light was still on in the emergency room. 

Anko was knocked out as Sarutobi placed her in a powerful genjutsu as not even the combined strength of everyone in the room besides Yugito could keep her from attempting to barge into the room wanting to know what was going on.

Yugito had nothing physically wrong with her other than a few bruises and a mild concussion and that was easily healed. Of course they had tried to rape her and they knew there would be some after affects on her psyche, but that wasn't bothering her right now. Naruto's condition was. She had felt Nibi grow unsettled a few times during the wait, and it was as if she knew something bad was happening in the emergency room.

Kakashi was leaning up against the wall with his Anbu mask tied to his belt. He oddly enough didn't have his precious orange book out and had a look of worry on his face. His arms were crossed as he kept passing glances at the door every few minutes before returning to his stoic brooding that kind of reminiscent of a certain Uchiha.

Yugao currently was wearing down the tiled floors as she continued pacing back and forth. Her mask was tied to her belt as well, but she looked like a mess. She much like Anko considered Naruto her little brother and knew he had similar feelings, though he didn't show them. It was taking all of her patients and will to keep from barging in there to find out what was taking so long.

Sarutobi was worried for Naruto as well as the consequences of this night. One was the people in the room. If Naruto didn't pull through, he knew it would be bad. He knew Kakashi would just brood and Gai would use his youthful mask as they always did, but Anko and Yugao were two totally different stories.

He wasn't sure what Yugao would do, but he knew damn well that Anko would go on a killing spree. Ever since she returned from being marked by Orochimaru as he betrayed Konoha, they had treated her like she was Orochimaru herself. They used her as an outlet due to there being no others. Though it seemed that she took it merely in stride, the truth was far from that.

On the inside, she was in pain. Unbearable pain that few could ever hope to understand. He on a few occasions had caught her trying to commit suicide and even once suppuku, but each time he managed to convince her not to. He tried to get her to explain why, but each time she would clam up and he'd get nothing out of her.

That's why when she found Naruto receiving the same treatment, he was glad. She taken him in and gave him some form of affection that he never had, and he did the same for her, even if it was in the weirdest ways. They had found a way to ease the pain that didn't involve cutting, self torment and their masks.

Sarutobi sighed as he looked as he looked at her unconscious form. Both she and Naruto were more like each other than he, nor they would ever admit. He sighed once more before turning to Yugito before wincing.

Another problem was that if Kumo had managed to learn what had nearly happened to her, they could use it against them, as her mother was a well renowned figure before she passed away. I bring more jobs to the other Shinobi nations seeing that Konoha couldn't be trusted. Sure they could have Yugito make a statement to counter that, but it wouldn't make a whole lot of difference as the fact that his shinobi tried and nearly succeed in raping her if Naruto hadn't gone berserk.

He sighed once more as he looked around the room again and was wondering what was going to happen over the next couple of days. He was brought out of his thoughts when the light above the door went off and the medical team walked out with a stretcher and a heavily bandage Naruto on top of it. Everyone their let out a sigh of relief knowing he was okay and Sarutobi walked towards the head medic, Hikiri Miyuki, for some answers.

The said medic sighed already knowing what the Hokage wanted decided to give it now so she could get some sleep after depleting most of his chakra. "Hokage-sama, we did all we could, and we managed to save him. If he was anyone else, we wouldn't have been able to."

Sarutobi flinched at this as the medic spoke in a solemnly, soft tone so no one else could hear it. "Hokage-sama I won't lie, there was a few times that he nearly passed away, and each time we barely managed to keep him in this world. If it wasn't for _it_ healing him along with us, he would have. Sometimes the boy's curse is his greatest gift."

"Anyways, it will take some time for him to completely recover Hokage-sama. He need good rest and nutritious foods and he'll be running around in no time." The medic finished on a slightly happier and louder tone than before so the rest could here it.

Sarutobi smiled slightly hearing that and nodded slowly as he looked at the young boy laying on the stretcher. He absently noticed that Yugito was already by his side, but he figured it was from the shock of what happened. Shaking his head from that, he motion for the medics to take him to his room as he released the genjutsu on Anko.

Anko sprang up and noticed the light of the room was off and a stretcher in the distance and would have taken off after that if Sarutobi hadn't interrupted her and pulled her into the hallway. "Anko, let him rest. He and Yugito need it."

She turned to Sarutobi to see his solemn face before taking a deep breath. "Anko, you remember the request you've been asking for the last couple of months." Her eyes widen in realization as he knew of only one thing that she'd been asking for that long.

Adopting Naruto.

"Y-you m-mean?!" Anko stumbled over her own words as the old man smiled sadly at her. After months of bothering from Tsume and Anko, he had finally caved in. Minato had asked for him to keep Naruto from being adopted by a shinobi family as he didn't wish to force becoming a shinobi onto him. Little did he realize that only shinobi families would adopted him and they would be limited as most ended up marrying civilians.

"Yes Anko-chan. I've reconsidered my decision on allowing you or Tsume to adopt him. I have to ask Tsume first as she has been asking for a longer time, but I'm sure she'll accept my decision." Responded Sarutobi seeing the tears coming down her face out of joy and sadness knowing Tsume would fight to adopt him as well. "But, this means you have to adopt Yugito as well. In this short time and after this, the two have bonded. I'm not sure what kind of bond it is as of now, only the future will say."

Anko immediately nodded her head in understanding and wanting to take the young female jinchuuriki in as well. Sarutobi smiled lightly before walking back into the thinning waiting room only to see Tsume and Yamato left. "Tsume, if you would please follow me and Anko to my office. I have something I wish to discuss with both of you. Tenzo, you can have the rest of the day off."

Yamato nodded as he walked off towards Naruto's room, probably to check on him one last time before leaving. Tsume walked up to them and followed him outside the building before shushining to his office.

He quickly sat in his chair and ignored the fresh stack of paperwork that would make him cry later on before turning to both slightly frightening kunoichi, when they chose to be, in front of him. He looked at both before turning to Tsume as he already had said this much to her.

"Tsume, as I was explaining to Anko in the hallway, I have reconsidered on allowing one of you to adopt him." She smiled lightly as she knew both her and Anko have been asking awhile as the Hokage continued. "But as I said with Anko, to adopt Naruto, you have to adopt Yugito as well. She has managed to get Naruto to show more emotion in these few weeks than he has shown in the last year."

"Also, I believe she is what Naruto needs of now. He needs someone he knows is like him and help him deal with his problems and the same goes for her. She might not be showing anything as of now, but nearly being raped does some psychological damage even if only a little compared to it actually happening." Sarutobi said remorsefully at the end.

The two kunoichi flinched as they knew it was more than true as they had been around their fair share of women that had been raped during war time and/or missions with thugs and bandits that had taken some for their pleasure. He sighed lightly as he turned to each kunoichi seeing who was the better to raise them as he knew both would take them in.

Anko had her ups and downs. She was blood thirsty, had mood swings that rivaled that of pregnant women, a bad temperament, threw random kunais at people and a bad overall romodel. On the other hand she was genially kind to Naruto and Yugito, in her own twisted way and she cared for Naruto almost like that of a son. Plus they wouldn't have to move out of the apartment as she lived just next door.

Tsume on the other hand had more ups. She was a kind, when not angered, somewhat temperamental yet stable parental figure for the two. She had experience on parenting as she had both Hana and Kiba and both of them were being raised right. The only problem with taking them in was that she would have to spread her time around for all four of them while Anko would just have the two.

He sighed as he rubbed his temple, trying to determine who was the better choice. It was frustrating him to no end and both could see it. They were both good/his only choices. He sighed deeply as he turned to both of them. "For now, give me time to think. I cannot decide with all that has happened now. I will call you back when I have made my choice."

Both kunoichi nodded and left the room leaving the old Hokage by himself. He looked out of the room and smiled sadly as he looked towards the Yondaime's head on and began wondering on how things would be if only he had done the jutsu instead of him.

After a few moments of thoughts around those lines, he shook his head and turned to his paperwork and for once he didn't mind doing it.

* * *

A few days had passed and Naruto had yet to wake. Yugito was sleeping silently on the extra bed they had put in the room for her as she refused to leave. Everyone had tried to convince her that she need to rest, but she said she was staying here and that was final. After a while, they had given up and Anko and Yugao managed to convince the staff to bring in another bed for her. 

She slowly turned and rolled in her sleep as the memories of a few days ago came to her. She shivered lightly as she wrapped the blankets around her even tighter than before. She never had anything like that happen to her before and was finally beginning to understand what Naruto had to go through, day in and day out.

The memories kept hitting her every time she fell asleep. Yet she would always calm down when she saw Naruto in the dream and when she awoke. Something about his prescence was soothing her, and she didn't want that to go away for now. Not till these dreams stopped.

But this dream was far worse then the others. She shuddered heavily as the man actually entered her unlike the others. After a few moment her shuddering seized as she started to scream in her sleep, waking the other occupant in the room and alerting a few nurses and medics nearby.

Naruto's eyes snapped open as he heard Yugito's screaming and started to look around for before noticing that she was in the bed next to his. He tried to move, but yelp a bit in pain as his wounds were still fresh, but that didn't matter to him right now. He pushed himself off the bed and slowly limped his way towards the screaming girl. Once he reached her, he noticed her tense position as she gripped the bed tightly and had her back arched a bit as if she was...

Realization dawning on him that she must be reliving that night again, but this time it was actually happing. Doing the only thing he could think of, he reach down and grabbed Yugito's shoulders and shook her lightly to wake her up. He was glad when her screaming stopped as her eyes snapped open and looked at him with sweat drenching her face.

Blinking a few times and letting everything come into focus, she noticed Naruto covered head to toe in bandages standing in front of her with his arms on her shoulders. Normally she would have told him to get back to his bed as he was still to hurt to be moving, but she wasn't in a normal state.

Her arms shot out and wrapped around his waist as she buried herself into Naruto chest and started to cry a bit. Naruto was confused as to what was going on, but having the same kind of reaction himself once, he knew what to do instinctively. He slowly slid his one of his arms around her waist as he other on stroked her scalp lightly.

He wasn't one hundred percent sure what he was doing, but it seemed to be working as she had began to calm down. So he continued to stroke her hair and hold her closely, even if it was hurting him. After a few more moments, he noticed her become slack and fell back towards the bed, bring him with her.

Naruto blinked in surprise as he laid besides the nekomata jinchuuriki. This was foreign territory for him. He'd rather take another beating than this, cause at least then he knew what was going to happen. And it wasn't helping that his hand was obeying him at the moment as it kept stroking Yugito's hair making her emit a weird sound that was a cross between a growl and a bee buzzing.

From outside the room, the nurses and medics couldn't help but smile at the scene. It was one of the most adorable things they had seen before, especially with Naruto looking around for help as he had no clue what to do.

* * *

At the same time in the council room, Sarutobi was staring down the entire council. There was fifteen seats in the council but normally only eleven showed up to the meetings. He normally never had to call the entire council as the clan heads and elders mostly agreed on every thing, making it pointless for the other council members to come as they couldn't overrule a majority vote. This was one of those few times it was mandatory for all of them to be there. 

Other than himself, the council was made of the clans heads of the Hyuuga, Uchiha, Inuzaku, Akimichi, Nara, Yamanaka and Aburame. There also was the Sandaimes old teammates Homura and Koharu. Danzo, Sarutobi former opponent for the position of Hokage and the leader of Roots. The other four were the richest civilians in Konoha, Yami Kurinka, Muyo Kanaye and Haruna Ryo.

The final member of the council was only a member due to her husband dying and leaving her the only one available to take the seat till their daughter retire from her shinobi career. She was Haruno Momo, the current head of the hospital staff.

None of them knew why they were here today, besides Tsume as she was there in the waiting room, but the look on the Hokage's face told them that he was restraining himself from letting loose a fury of jutsus on them. It was mainly directed at the civilian members and Danzo, but that didn't really matter as everyone else was in the way.

Yawning out loud, Haruno Momo looked around the room and ignored the tense atmosphere as the clan heads were figuring out where this was going and decided to get this over with. "What is this about Hokage-sama? It better have nothing to do with the demon child again." She spat out the last part with venom lacing her voice. She had respected the Hokage till he started protecting the 'demon child' and putting up laws and assigning Anbu to protect him.

Sarutobi glared at her for a few seconds before doing something that made everyone in the room freak out. He smiled. And not his normally, warm loving smile. This one he had to learn from Orochimaru as it clearly said 'I'm psychotic right now, so I'm going to torture you a thousand possible ways before raping you'. Taking a deep breath, he spoke in a clear and commanding voice. "As you all know what happened to Miss Nii and one Uzumaki Naruto a few days ago."

Each of the clan heads and elders, beside Danzo, flinched hearing this while the rest just snorted in response, not really caring as both where demons in their opinions. Momo rolled her eyes at him and spoke up venomously. "Of course I know of that. I had to cover up the near raping of the wench to keep Kumogakure from know for fear of retaliation. The only ones to know of it are in this room other than the medic that had checked up on her. As for the demon brat, they should have let him die."

He glared viciously at her before three Anbu appeared behind him looking at the women in contempt. "It seems Kumo has already learned of this event and is using it against us already by spreading it around to the other villagers and potential employers that Konoha shinobi are not to be trusted. Now I don't believe I need to tell you how this can hurt our economy, otherwise none of you would be able to be on this council. The other purpose of this meeting is to try and root out the spy amongst us."

Each member's eyes widen at his statement and started looking at the others, except oddly enough Danzo, who looked like he wasn't surprised. Sarutobi narrowed his eyes at this, but he had nothing on the old war hawk and couldn't do anything as of yet. "I'm not saying it is one of us, but the probability it is, is very high. But as of the moment, I have nothing, I can only suspect. But for now, we have to deal with the impact of these events will have."

The members nodded and were about to leave, figuring this was the end of the meeting when Sarutobi spoke in a deep, powerful voice making everyone sit back down in fear. "The next thing I have for today is that I have made a new law that will protect Naruto from..."

He was aloud to finish as the civilians and Momo cried out in rage for protecting him while Danzo was seething mentally at hearing his. The Sandaime was already in a bad mood, and they weren't helping him as of this moment, so he shut them up with one word laced with killing intent that made Kyuubi's seem like nothing.

"SILENCE!"

All four civilians shrunk back along with the rest of the council, never having seen the old Hokage like this before. "Now, as I was saying before I was interrupted, I have created a new law like the first I made for him. But with a few differences. This one will keep events like this from happen again. It will be considered treason for breaking this law, and you all know the punishments for treason."

Everyone gulped in fear hearing this and shrunk back further in their seats as they nodded. The penalty for treason seventy-five percent of the time was execution, but if the Hokage was feeling kind it would be life in prison with no parole. But Sarutobi wasn't finished yet.

"In addition, if you are found to have done this before, the offender will have to go through a week with our head interrogator, Morino Ibiki, before being executed. If the offender happens to be a shinobi, their rank will be striped from them and will be buried as a civilian, not as a shinobi and there names will not be placed on the memorial stone, even if they had the credentials. This law is in effect from this moment on, till Naruto dies from old age or in action."

Suddenly the three Anbu behind Sarutobi wearing a Inu, Tora and Ryo mask appeared besides Momo and restrained her before placing chakra cuffs on her arms and legs. "Haruno Momo, you are hereby sentenced to execution in three days for being a repeat offender. Your rank of the head of the hospital is stripped along with your status as a council member and you will not have a shinobi burial."

Her eyes widen as she continued to struggle more, but it was in vain as the three Anbu had already caught her and were dragging her to Ibiki for a special session. The rest of the council members were in shock seeing this, except Tsume how seemed slightly pleased as she never did like the woman.

Danzo's eyes narrowed at this and gritted his teeth. This would set his plans back. He didn't expect the old man to regain his back bone.

Sarutobi gives her a cold glare him, knowing that the war hawk was up to something and was going to watch him closely in years to come. But he'd be damned if he was going to allow this any longer. He was no longer going to live in the shadow of his successor as he had done the last eight years. Shaking that thought off, he turned back to the rest of the council. "This meeting is finished. You are dismissed. Tsume, I want you in my office in ten minutes."

He turned around quickly and walked out of the door with no visible emotion on his face. Though you could see in his eyes that there was anger for what she had done to Naruto, but sadness that he had to resort to this. He shook his head as he entered his office and sat in his chair before turning to the Hokage monument. As he reached the Yondaime's head, a light smile crept onto his face. _'Minato, I will not let you down any more. I will no longer allow this to happen to your son. Now to find a way to get Jiraiya here...'_

He shook his head and turned towards his paperwork and was about to start on it when the door open, revealing both Anko and Tsume. He was surprised both were here five minutes early, then he realized they probably had figured out why he wanted to see them. He shook his head as he pulled out his pipe and lit it before speaking. "I guess both of you know why you have been called."

Both gave each other a quick look before nodding as they knew all to well. Sarutobi nodded as he glanced outside towards the monument before back at them. "To tell you the truth. I cannot decide for myself. Both of you have your up and down points making it difficult to choose. So I'm going to leave it in your hands to decide who will adopt him and Yugito."

Anko's eyes widen hearing this while Tsume's jaw unhinged itself. He was leaving it in their hands to decide. That either meant that he really couldn't decide for himself, or wanted them to go over who would give them the best care. After a few seconds of numbly standing there, both nodded and turned to the other and headed outside the room so they didn't bother the Hokage as he did his paperwork.

Once they were outside, they looked at each other and sized them up, as if they were about to fight. Tsume motion Anko to follow her and she did so as she led her into a vacant room. The both sat down at the table in the middle of the room and continued to size the other up, seeing if they were worthy of taking care of the two.

After a few more moments of staring at the other, Tsume was the first to break the silence. "So... why exactly do you want to adopt Naruto." This wasn't the first question that came to her mind, but her answer would help her immensely in her decision. She knew that looking after Hana and Kiba was a trial on it's own, but add a silent Naruto and a shell shocked Yugito and there would be hell in the house hold as Kiba couldn't keep still and didn't like anything that smelled like cats...

Anko was surprised at her question as she really didn't expect it. She was expecting something more on the lines of why she was qualified to look after the two of them. Maybe Tsume deemed her good enough in that area for it not to matter. Shaking that thought off, she thought over why she did want to looked after the blonde haired gaki and Yugito.

She knew she loved Naruto like a little brother, maybe a son, as he had experience the darker side of the village and was treated like she was. When she first found him, she couldn't help but try to help him as he remind her so much of herself. As for Yugito, the girl was already kind of like her in many ways. She had a sadistic streak, was volatile when she choose to be and just seemed to have certain aura around her that made her all the more likeable.

Thinking for a few more minutes, she looked up at Tsume and answered. "It's because they remind me of myself. Naruto for living through the hell the villagers give him for being Kyuubi's jailer, just like I have to live with the crap they give me for being Orochimaru's apprentice. Yugito, as she is already more like me than I thought. I want to adopt to them to keep them near me as they are all I have other than my shinobi career. They are two of my brightness lights in my life."

Tsume's eyes widen for a brief second before looking thoughtful as she looked down at Kuromaru, who had been following her the entire time. She growled a bit at him and did so back confirming her suspicions. Anko wasn't lying, in fact she had spoken straight from her heart. Most of the doubt and worry left her as she knew Anko was more than capable of taking care of them and now that she knew the reason why she wished for the adoption, she could allow it.

"Go ahead."

Anko blinked at Tsume in confusion as she didn't understand what she just said. A part of her did, but the more rational part of her brain was going, 'HUH?!'. Tsume shook her head seeing her confusion and spoke up. "You can adopt them. I have enough troubles in running the clan and watching after Hana and Kiba. I just wanted to make sure your reasons."

The snake mistress blinked a few times a she let her words sink in. Then chaos occurred. Anko jumped over the table and hugged the surprised Tsume as she certainly didn't expect this kind of reaction from Anko. The only thing she could do was glare at currently snickering Kuromaru.

Watching from his crystal ball, Sarutobi smiled as he finished the paperwork for the adoption papers. Now all Anko had to do was sign them.

* * *

Anko smiled brightly as she walked through the town towards the hospital, frightening everyone along the way as she was happy, and that was not a good thing in their books. She didn't notice them as she was in too good of a mood as she walked into the hospital and head towards Naruto and Yugito's room hold two papers in her hands as if they were her last life lines. 

She smiled brighter as neared the room, but blinked in confusion as two nurses stood at the door snickering a bit. Now this didn't sit right with her as most people in Konoha didn't like Naruto and she was about to go teach them a lesson when she looked into the room. Her lips twitched a few times as she attempted to restrain herself, but failed as she began laughing out loud at the helpless Naruto as Yugito held him closely to her as she purred in content.

After regain her composure along with the two nurses as Anko's laughing had put them over the edge as well, she walked into the room and smirked at the helpless Naruto and winked at him. "My, you work fast don't you. And here I thought I was going to have to find someone to break you of that."

Naruto looked up at Anko and blinked in confusion as he had no utter clue what she meant, nor did he want to. The sound of finding someone to break him off something didn't seem to fun at the moment. Anko sighed and slumped her shoulders. He was still to young to understand what she meant. "You'll know what I'm talking about in a few years."

Naruto nodded at her and tried to pull her off, only to see Anko glare at him. "Gaki, if I'm correct, your suppose to be in bed. So if you move, your going to be in here for much longer."

He blinked at her before grumbling as it seemed that he wasn't getting free of Yugito's grip any time soon anyways. Anko snickered some more at the scene as the two nurses came in with cameras and started taking some pictures of them. Anko refrained from laughing as Naruto's face became horrified at the prospect of this being caught on film and started struggling even more against her grip, not caring about Anko's threat.

After a few moment, the nurses were done with their pictures and thorough embarrassment of one Uzumaki Naruto and left the room with large smiles on their faces while filing this under black mail. Anko shook her head as she smirked at him and finally took pity on him and released him from Yugito's grip and setting him on his bed. Of course she woke the young girl up in the process though.

Once she head Naruto back in his bed, she stepped back a bit so she could get both of them into her view with having to turn her head. She smiled a bit at them before speaking. "Oi gakis. I've got good news for both of you." Both Naruto and Yugito looked towards Anko as she said this and waited for her to continued. "Well first off, Naruto you'll be able to leave her within a week if you can stay in bed. And the second is... I'm officially guardian of both of you."

She let he words seep into their heads and Yugito was the first to figure out what she meant. Then again, she was the older of the two. "Y-you mean... You've adopted us!" Yugito stuttered at the beginning but was yelling at the end in surprise.

Anko smiled lightly at her and nodded making Naruto's eyes widen. She smiled at that as it was rare for Naruto to show emotions, but now he was showing three. Hope, happiness... and fright. She refrain from grumbling at the last emotion. She was sadistic all the time. Just a good portion of it.

Shaking her head at that, she turned back to both of them. "You two will stay in your apartment since it's next to mine and mine is just to small to inhabit all of us. But anyways, I'll get out of her so you can... continue. Fu fu fu."

With that statement, Anko left the room leaving a frightened Naruto and a bewildered Yugito as she had no clue on what had happened earlier. After a few more moments of silence, it finally began to sink into Naruto's head at what this truly meant.

It meant he had family. For the first time in his life.


	4. Arc 2 The Road Begins

A/N: Well, here's the second half of the original Chapter Four. Once again like last chapter, there was so much I could do with and just didn't. So I am for correcting my mistake there. Plus there will be flashbacks showing Naruto and Yugito's life as Anko as their mother. Just not going to put them all in this chapter. And after I finish this one, I will be starting with a clean slate to work with, though I know what I want to do. And Naruto is going to talk a bit more than he has in the original and more than I really planned.

I Do Not Own Naruto. Though WTF is up with Sasuke out powering Itachi in every single way. It just doesn't make any sense.

* * *

The street an eight year old Naruto was walking on seemed all too quiet. Not that he minded that at all. But he would wish if everyone just didn't back away from him in fear as soon as they saw him. It was quite annoying for him to be feared this much. He hadn't killed anyone in a month, and that was self defense. He knew why they feared him of course, but to this proportion was ludicrous. It wasn't like he was going to lash out and attack them at any given second, though the thought of it seemed justified at times.

Shaking that thought off his head, he head towards his favorite place to eat. Even over the past two years of training and the academy really hadn't changed him all too much. Sure, he was more blood thirsty thanks to Anko, but how could he not be after spending two years with her. His attire was really the only thing to change than his height, which was four foot three inches.

He wore a dark black under armor, short sleeve shirt and a red vest with the Uzumaki spiral on the back and armored plating inside to give mild protection for kunai and shuriken over his shirt. He had a katana strapped to his back as the blade was still to large for him to put at his side. His pants were pitch black with a thin crimson strip on the outside of each pant leg. He had on black combat boots with a red heel and had his pants tucked into them. And finally, strapped on his head was a hitai-ate he had received yesterday for graduation.

As he walked into the ramen stand, Teuchi looked up and smiled at him before nodding a bit. "The usual Naruto."

Naruto nodded as he sat down on his regular stool and smiled lightly at him, mainly because he was one of the few people he could trust. A few minutes later, Teuchi came back from the back and placed three bowls in front of Naruto. Naruto nodded a bit and gave him a very faint smile in gratitude before he slowly began eating the miso flavored ramen.

A few minutes later, he had started on his third bowl when someone entered the stand. Naruto's eyes instantly gazed back to see if the new person was a threat, only to see the one eye pervert reading his book as he sat besides Naruto.

"One chicken flavored Teuchi. And Naruto, shouldn't you be heading to the academy for your team placement." Kakashi spoke in a monotone voice as he his eyes never left his precious book.

Naruto twitched in annoyance at this, but shook his head as he continued eating for a bit. "What's the point? I know I'm the rookie of the year so they'll be putting me on the squad with the top or second kunoichi and the person who finished dead last of the graduating group."

Kakashi tilted his a bit in agreement as he continued reading. "True, but there was only twenty-six people that were in your class and as much as I hate to say it, they would rather put you with a more experience gennin team then with just a bunch of academy students that probably won't make on their first real mission." _'And because most of their parent's would through a fit if they learned that you were on their child's team.'_

Eating his ramen again, Naruto thought about and nodded a bit, having the same thought as Kakashi did. Shaking his head, he finished up his last bowl of ramen and placed his ryo on the counter, making sure to give Teuchi a tip. He stood up and stretched as Kakashi spoke once again as he put up his book as Teuchi glared at him seeing that Ayame was in the stand. "So, I heard Yugito just made jounin."

Naruto nodded as he stretched some more before turning back to the masked jounin. "Yeah. She came in last night and both her, Anko and I celebrated. Though I went home early, not wanting to be too late for my exam, and because they were saying really strange things."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow at that part as he swallow the ramen in his mouth, somehow not showing his mask to the ire of all three that were there. "Strange things? Like what?"

Shrugging, Naruto turned around. "I really didn't understand much of it, but I think it dealt with that birds and bees speech Anko gave me a while back." Sputtering was heard as Kakashi chocked on his ramen. Taking the opportunity, Naruto appeared in front of him and moved the mask to take a peek and shook his head. "So that's what behind your mask. And here I was thinking you were deformed under there. Well, ja ne Kakashi-sensei."

With that said, he quickly left the stand with a grin on his face leaving a disgruntled Kakashi as he had been tricked by an eight year old.

* * *

A few minutes later, Naruto found himself walking into the academy. He ignored the frightened look on all the students rushing away from him and the glares from a few of the teachers. Though he was grateful that a few of them held him in high regard. Even one went out to befriend him. Mainly the one that had just became a teacher and was named after a dolphin.

Shaking his head on that, Naruto walked by all of them and was greeted by Iruka as he was walking to his class after lunch. "Hey Naruto."

Naruto up at him and nodded a bit, seeing his class was behind. He noticed the glare from the other teacher but ignore it as he really didn't care. "Hello Iruka-san. Don't have much time to talk. I have a few minutes to get to my team assignments."

Iruka nodded in understanding and waved him off. "Alright then. I have a class anyways. Though I want to hear whose team you end up on."

Nodding a bit, Naruto walked by him and his class, getting a glare from some of them, a blushing Hyuuga heir, a stare from a Inuzuka seeing they Hyuuga's blush and a few stunned looks from an Uchiha and his two frantic fan girls. Shaking his head off that, he headed towards his room so he didn't have to deal with the eventual question they would ask.

Iruka shook his head at Naruto with a slight smile on his face and was about to turn around when Sasuke spoke up. "Iruka-sensei. Who was that?"

Sighing a bit, wondering if Naruto had left him just to answer their question, he turned to the class. "That would be Uzumaki-Mitrashi Naruto. He's this year's rookie of the year. Now come on class, otherwise I'm going to keep you all after class."

They all nodded enthusiastically, not wanting that to happen. Sasuke's placed his hand on his chin as he looked at the back of the said boy. _'He can't be older than me, so what makes him different. Is he a genius like aniki?'_

Shaking that thought, he turned back around and followed his class, ignoring both Ino and Sakura's constant chatting on who was going to sit besides him. He honestly had to begin to wonder if his family was cursed as it seemed that every male member of the clan had to deal with fan girls throughout their entire life.

* * *

In the Hokage's tower, nine jounins and a chunin were surrounding the crystal ball as the Sandaime activated it. The notable few of the group were Akimichi Chouza, Gekkou Hayate and of course Hatake Kakashi, though everyone in the room knew he was going to fail his team this year unless Naruto happened to be on it.

Shaking his head, Sarutobi noticed Naruto walk into the room before turning to the nine jounin. "Alright, all of you that are here to choose your students. I know that we normally do the rookie of the year, top kunoichi and dead last set up, but this year we have twenty-six potential gennin, so there will be two left over. And Hayate you have lost two of you students to the last chunin in Kusagakure, so you will need two to fill in the slots. That's why you will be allowed to pick first."

The others nodded as Hayate sighed a bit at his failure for the two before walking over to the crystal ball as he gazed over it while reading the records on each potential gennin. After looking through most of them, he refrained from sighing. None of them would make the cut. Hana would eat them alive and the fact that he really didn't want to have two inexperienced children joining his team.

Sighing a bit, he looked over and noticed Naruto sitting down besides himself, though that didn't last long as a young girl with raven colored haired and onyx colored eyes sat at the other end of the row. He instantly recognized her by her features alone as an Uchiha.

But that wasn't what caught his interest, it was Naruto. From what he heard from Yugao, he was very capable in kenjutsu and unlike her, wished to use a style that relied on attack instead of defense. And from the katana on his back, he could deduct that he was serious about being a shinobi, unlike the majority of the graduating class.

Judging him from more from what Yugao had told, he knew that he happened to be quiet to those he didn't know or trust. A trait Hana would find irritating as she was pretty vocal herself, but both Tsume and he had worked on. But also when people had gained his trust, he would go out of his way to protect him, showing that some of his old self still remained. He also knew he was quite skilled and knew he wouldn't have to worry about him and if a situation became too dangerous, he could call on Kyuubi. The thought disturbed him a bit, but he was a jinchuuriki and he knew they would have to call upon their tenant eventually.

Shaking that thought, he knew who his first pick was, now he just need to find one more to fill up his team. His eyes landed on the Uchiha girl that had just entered the class today as she had graduated early. From her file, she was fairly gifted as she had activated her Sharingan and had three tomoe in her right eye and one in her left. But the interesting thing was that she didn't activate her Sharingan till a few days ago and she had already been told that they were going to let her take the exam early.

Looking over her personality records, his eyes widen in shock. It was an oddity of nature when an Uchiha, especially a head family Uchiha, was out going and friendly with others. Though she was the same as Naruto as she was quiet around people she didn't know. Looking over, he noticed that she did show a bit of the Uchiha arrogance, as noted in her records, but she also had something that most didn't. He could see in her eyes that she had a drive to improve, not for her clan, but for herself.

Smirking a bit, not caring that the others were going to hate him for doing this, though some would thank him for taking the demon out of the mix. He gritted his teeth lightly at the thought before shaking his head. "I've made my decision Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi nodded as he had seen his gave and had to refrain from smirking himself before motion Hayate to speak. _'I don't think he realizes it, but he's remaking the same team their parents had._'

"I have decided to take Uzumaki-Mitrashi Naruto and Uchiha Miko."

At this, a few of the jounin started speaking up who it was unfair that he got the Uchiha and one of them even said that it wasn't fair that he got the best two and wanted her or both of them on their teams. Kakashi smirked at Hayate before pulling out his orange book and begin reading, no longer having to worry about passing his team this year.

Sarutobi sighed in annoyance at the jounin. "I afraid you have none of you have the authority to overrule my decision, so Uchiha Miko and Uzumaki-Mitrashi Naruto will join Gekkou Hayate and Inuzaku Hana."

As many of the jounins looked dissatisfied by this, three smirks were in the room held by none other than the Sandaime, Hayate and Kakashi.

* * *

Naruto sighed mentally as he walked into the room. He could feel practically everyone's eyes on him. He was glad it wasn't mostly fear, but he did dislike the looks of hatred they gave him. Most of them didn't dislike him for being Kyuubi's vessel but for the fact that he had embarrassed everyone in the class at one point either by one way or another. There was a few that hated him because their parents did, but he could care less about them as he sat down in his seat at the final row.

He ignored the mumbling for the other students before the door opened once more, to reveal a girl with raven black hair that reached to the middle of her back, a sleek face and a decent build, more athletic and tom boy like than the skinny fan girls in the class room. She wore a navy blue shirt and white pants but on the back of her shirt there was an Uchiha fan on the back.

Within seconds, guys were on her much to her annoyance and Naruto's amusement. He had actually never seen guys acting like fan girls, so this was a change in pace. The Uchiha girl narrowed her onyx eyes as she glared at them harshly. Of course the guys didn't notice this, she narrowed her eyes as she blurred out of their view and appeared behind them. Naruto raised his eyebrow in surprise at this, but shook his head a bit as he seen much faster before.

Miko notice this as she tried to get away from her seemingly never ending fan boys. She also noted that the room seemed oddly vacant from his side of the room. Wonder as to why this was, she walked towards him and noticed no one else followed her. She raised her eyebrow at this, but shook her head as she actually preferred not to be followed and decided to sit near him.

Naruto shook his head as he ignored her, as he really didn't want to have to deal with all the murmuring of the boys growling at him to move so they could come and sit by her. Shaking his head, he sighed deeply as he pulled out his katana and expected it as he waited for Kikyo-sensei to arrive and give them their team assignments.

She saw him do this and expected the sharpness with eyes and noticed that it was sharper than even her aniki's wakizashi. Shaking her head, she laid back in her chair and sighed as she waited for the chunin sensei to arrive. She ignored the staring of the fan boys looking at her assets or glaring at the blonde haired boy near her. She had half a mind to pull out a kunai and threaten them with castration if they kept staring, but she sighed knowing they wouldn't.

Answering both of their prayers, a female chunin shushined into the room. The entire class instantly became quiet, not wanting to anger their volatile sensei, as she looked somewhat irked.

Kikyo shook her head as she stood in front of the class before speaking in an annoyed tone. "Alright, as most of you know, two of you will be put on a pre existing team as the rest will make new ones. Most of you have potential, but unlike here, you will have to work otherwise you will never make it to a chunin."

Most of the class didn't like this, but shut up when their sensei glared at them heavily "Now then, here are the teams. Team one is..."

Naruto sighed as he tuned them out, though noticing that each of the guys groaned when they heard they weren't on the Uchiha girl's team. Shaking his head, he noticed Kikyo turn towards him and rolls her eyes. He knew she didn't hate him, just thought him as annoying due to him already knowing everything she had to teach. "Uchiha Miko and Uzumaki-Mitrashi Naruto. Both of you will be placed on a currently existing team that just lost two gennins to the chunin exams. Your new sensei told me to send you to training ground fifteen."

Both looked at each other seeing as they were the only ones not called before nodding a bit. Naruto placed his hands in a very familiar seal, which surprised Kikyo as Miko placed her hand on his shoulder before he shushined them away. Most of the class jaws unhinged themselves as they hit their desk as Kikyo shook her as she should have know he would have learned it by know.

* * *

Hayate sighed as he looked over at the crestfallen Hana. He knew she took the deaths of her teammates hard, but there was nothing she could do. Even Hayate himself didn't realize that Iwa had a jinchuuriki of their own. He sighed deeply as he stood beside her as she sat on a training post with her three dogs below her, being unusually quiet.

Hana looked up at her sensei a bit before back down to her partners as they slept beneath her. She didn't know what to think. After seeing the Iwa gennin go on a rampage on her team and kill her teammates, she didn't know what to do anymore. She wanted to take up after mother, but know she didn't want to resort to violence. It wasn't that she was afraid of fighting, but more of blood being spilt needlessly.

She sighed a bit more speaking softly. "Hayate-sensei. I... I..."

Hayate shook his head a bit and sighed, knowing what she was thinking. She was having doubts on being a shinobi and endangering her new team mates. "Hana. It is alright. There was nothing that could have been done, even if I was there. So let it go. Things like that will happen; it was unfortunate that it had to happen to you so early."

Hana nodded a bit as looked down as she petted one of her partner's head with her feet. Hayate smiled a bit at her before rubbing her back a bit. "And don't worry about your new team mates. They will be fine."

Hana looked up at him a bit before smiling lightly before turning around as her trio of dogs began barking loudly as the leaves around picked up and swirled heavily around two figures, one with blonde hair, the other with raven. Hayate was mentally surprised seeing a gennin, scratch that, a kid just out of the academy that was no older than eight using a technique as difficult as shushin.

Shaking his head, he instantly noticed something off about Naruto before sensing another presence in the forest. Hayate had to refrain from smirking as he had barely caught it himself. Naruto had managed to make a Tsuchi Bunshin of himself and switched it with him during the swirling leaves. He was thinking on test their skills, but as of ready, Naruto was impressing him beyond what he had heard from Yugao and hoped for.

But he was going to be damned if he wasn't going to join in on this. So with a quick flick of his wrist, he sliced the clone in half and threw a few shuriken into forest. "Very nice, but I'm not going to let you skip out of this, Naruto."

Both girls' eyes widen seeing the Naruto in front of them turn into mud as another Naruto walked out of the tree lines, holding the shuriken in hand. Naruto shook his head slightly, showing he didn't want to be here before he walked towards them and leaned against one of the training post. Hayate sighed a bit before faking his normal cough, as it was best not to let anyone know he wasn't sick. "Now that you are here, we can start by introducing ourselves."

Naruto looked up at him and waited for him to start as Miko sat on the poll between them. Hayate coughed again on reflex as he shook his head a bit. "Well, seeing as no one else wants to, I'll start. My name is Gekkou Hayate. My likes are practicing my swordsmanship to be on par with that of the Kiri no Shichinin Shu and my girlfriend, Uzuki Yugao."

At this, Naruto's eyes perked a bit as he looked at Hayate a bit more seriously. Hayate had to fake another cough to refrain from smirking at Naruto face as he knew from Yugao Naruto wished to learn how to use his katana in an offensive manner. "Hm, my dislikes are people that bad mouth kenjutsu and Yugao. My dream is to become the best kenjutsu specialist in the world and to marry Yugao once I do. Hana you're up next."

Hana sighed and shook her head at her sensei and his love for kenjutsu and Yugao while Naruto was still slightly interested in him. "Sensei, anyone tell you that you have an obsessive personality." Of course this earned his a glare and a cough from Hayate. Shrugging her shoulders, Hana continued. "Anyways, my name is Inuzaku Hana. My likes are my partners, friends and people who treat animals right. My dislikes are people who treat animals poorly and harm my friends. My dream... was to follow in my mother's footsteps and take over the clan, but know I'm thinking about becoming a veterinarian."

Her three dogs looked up at her and barked at her making her smile lightly. Hayate smiled at her a bit before going through his routine cough before motion for Miko to go. The said girl sighed before nodding. "My name is Uchiha Miko. My likes are few and far between while I dislike people who act like I'm royalty and all the guys that swarm me like moths to a flame. My dream is to remove myself and Sasuke-ni-san from aniki's shadow.

Hayate nodded a bit at her as he understood why. _'Both she and her younger brother feel inferior to Itachi. Not surprising really seeing that Fuguku has favored him their entire lives.'_ Shaking that thought off, he turned to Naruto. "Alright show off, your turn."

Naruto refrained from twitching in annoyance as he settled for his normal stoic appearance. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I have no likes, I dislike mostly everyone and my dream is nonexistent."

Hayate raised his eyebrow at his introduction as both Hana and Miko looked at him in shock. Miko looked at him for a brief seconds before a stray thought hit her. _'Damn. He can give aniki a run for his money in the emotionless department.'_

Shaking his head, Hayate sighed as he already figured something like this from Naruto as Yugao gave him a heads up soon as Kakashi told her that he had taken Naruto on his team. Coughing once more, he looked over all three of them.

"Alright then. I would normally give you both a test to see how good you are, but mister show off her has already given me a glimpse of his abilities, I don't need to worry about him. And Miko, I'm sure Itachi could give me an accurate account on your abilities, so I have no need to. Anyways, I want all three of you here to be here tomorrow at ten in the mourning for our first mission as a team."

All three of them nodded in response before he disappeared in a poof of smoke. Sighing a bit, Hana looked over at her two new team mates before speaking out to them. "How about we go out to get something to eat so we can get to know each other?"

Miko looked over at Hana for a few seconds before nodding as it seemed to be a good idea. Both turned towards Naruto and noticed a swirl of leaves where he used to be, meaning he had shushined away. Hana blinked a few times in confusion as Miko looked angrily at the spot he was at. "What's his problem?!"

Hana shrugged as she shook her head a bit. "I'm unsure. I've only met him a few times when mother brought him over to interact with both Kiba and myself. From what I remembered, he doesn't let anyone get close to him. Though I have seen and heard some rumors that he has been seen around wit a blonde hair girl around my age."

Miko sighed in annoyance a bit before Hana motion for her to follow and had an evil glint in her eyes "Well, since he has to be here tomorrow, let's see if my mom can helps us get back at him and maybe get him to open up.'

The young Uchiha's grinned not unlike a certain snake sannin as she unconsciously activated her Sharingan. "Oh, let's go then."

Meanwhile on the Hokage's monument, Naruto was wondering why his nose was itching so much.

* * *

Hayate appeared in a swirl of leaves in front of Anko, Gai, Kakashi, Sarutobi, Yugao and Yugito in the Hokage's office. He twitched a bit as he saw Kakashi there. "Aren't you suppose to be introducing yourself to your future failed team?"

Kakashi looked down at his wrist at his imaginary watch and shrugged. "Nah. I'm still only an hour late. Have two more to go."

Everyone on in the room sweat dropped at his statement before shaking their heads at the ever tardy retired Anbu captain. Shaking her head some more, Anko spoke up. "So how'd it go?"

Hayate sighed deeply as he shook his head. "Well, from all I heard about Naruto from Yugao, I wasn't really surprised. Though I didn't try to test his abilities knowing he is more than capable enough from shushining himself and Miko into the training grounds and within the span of two, maybe three seconds created a Tsuchi Bunshin in the distance and switched himself with it. But I won't be able to truly judge him unless we take a higher mission."

Sarutobi sighed deeply before shaking his head. "You know I can't give them anymore than a D-class mission. I can't afford to give out any C-class missions due to the amount that we get."

Everyone looked down at this knowing the reason. Once Kumo learned of the attempted raping of a former Kumo citizen by Konoha shinobi, they used it show that Konoha shinobi weren't trust worthy and would back stab their clients. They knew this wasn't the truth, but the action of one reflected the whole and unfortunately it was happening now.

Yugito sighed lightly as she looked over to the Hokage monument and noticed Naruto on top of it, scratching his nose. Hayate nodded in understanding as he looked at the Hokage. "Well they're new team anyways; they need to get some teamwork under their belts before a C-Class mission."

Yugao nodded as she walked over to Hayate and whispered in his ear. Hayate's eyes widen for a brief second before speaking again. "Well, if that's all, I'll be heading out." He gripped Yugao's waist and shushined out of the room, leaving all the males looking confused as both Anko and Yugito instantly understand and smirked a bit.

Sarutobi sighed a bit as he had realized it as well as he had similar reaction himself before he turned and looked towards the Yondaime's head and saw Naruto sitting on top of his head. His face fell a bit at the sight. _'Maybe I should tell him.'_ The Hokage closed his eyes and shook his head, remembering Minato's request. _'I'll tell him when he makes chunin._'

He watched as Yugito shushined out of the room and appeared beside Naruto on the Yondaime's head.

* * *

Naruto looked up and noticed Yugito besides him after the brief swirl of leaves. Her appearance hadn't changed that much as she was wearing similar clothes as before, but the only difference was that she was wearing a jounin vest and her lower back length hair was tied in a bandaged Sighing, he looked back down as Yugito stood beside him. "So it seems you didn't stay behind to get your team better."

He nodded in agreement as he down onto Konoha. Yugito sighed deeply and sat down next to him and spoke softly. "I know you don't like anyone else, but you should at least give your team mates a chance. Who knows, they could end up becoming your friends and maybe even more later on."

Naruto looked up at her before looking back down and closing his eyes. She sighed out loud at him, knowing he wasn't going to say anything. But the look on his face told her that he was considering it. She mentally thank that he was before hearing something that made both of them pale.

"Fu fu fu. You know this is quite a romantic spot."

Both slowly turned around to see Anko grinning psychotically at them with an aura of malice surrounding her. Naruto paled even further as she gripped both of their shoulders and they found themselves in a very familiar forest. His eyes widen in fear as he knew this wasn't going to end well and was going to try and end this peacefully. "Anko-nee-chan! Whatever we did I swear it was all her!"

Yugito's eyes widen as she turned around and was about to strangle Naruto for back stabbing her when Anko laughed at them. "Oh, you think this is about something you done. No, no, no." Both turned away from each other and looked towards Anko who was grinning at them manically. "Remember I said that when both of you became shinobi I was going to test you."

Both of them slowly started backing away, not liking where this was going. "Well let us begin. _Sen'eijashu!"_

Her arm thrusted forward as four snakes quickly shot out of her sleeve and headed towards them. On instinct they both jumped and rolled out of the way. Naruto quickly unsheaved his katana as Yugito pulled out a kunai in defense. Anko smirked devilishly at both of them before slowly melting into mud.

Naruto searched his surroundings, trying to find Anko. Hearing a light rumble with his enhanced hearing, he jumped into the air as Anko shot out the ground, only to be forced to dodge a kunai from Yugito. She skidded back before rushing pulling out a few kunai and throwing them at an airborne Naruto before rushing towards Yugito.

Quickly countering the kunai with his own, Naruto landed on a tree before jumping off as a large snake crushed the tree. _'Dammit! She had to summon didn't she!'_

Anko smirked as she blocked and traded blows with Yugito. She knew she could beat her in taijutsu and ninjutsu as long as she could keep Naruto at a distance and kept them from working together, otherwise it would be an uphill battle.

Yugito knew this as well as she pulled out a hand full of shurikens and threw them at her before jumping back and going through the hand seals to create a few Tsuchi Bunshins, only to find Anko behind her. "Nice try squirt, but I know that trick all to well."

Her eyes narrowed as she noticed Yugito turn to mud before her eyes widen as she jumped out a way of her own snake. She looked up to see Naruto had placed one of the seals he had learned from Kakashi on the snake's head, confusing it and making it attack everything. She narrowed her eyes before quickly dispersed it with a burst of chakra, only to have to dodge a flurry of kunai and shuriken from all directions as she was surrounded by the two jinchuuriki and their clones.

In response, Anko smirked as she melted herself and both heard a jutsu they didn't want to hear coming from her.

_"Doton: Doryudan!"_

Both paled and quickly jumped away from their clones as a large earth dragon tore through them and destroyed mouth of them. Unfortunately they weren't expecting the second dragon in the shadow of the first. Naruto's eyes widen as it connected to him and rammed him through a tree as Yugito narrowly dodged the third dragon aimed at her.

Anko appeared besides her and landed a haymaker into her chest before following up with a knee to her gut. Yugito coughed out in pain, but gripped her knee before delivering one of her own, but Anko saw it coming and twisted out of the way and landed a kick to her temple. Yugito skidded back and into a tree before she rolled out of the way of Anko's kunai to her throat.

She gritted her teeth and turned back to Anko and pulled out another kunai as her eyes flashed purple for a second before charging Anko a bit more wildly and faster than before. Anko instantly realized that a small portion of Nibi's youki had entered her system as she began to have difficulty keeping up with Yugito's erratic movements.

Seeing that at the rate Yugito was attacking her, one of them was going to get seriously damaged, she jumped out of the way and pulled her arm back once more to use Sen'eijashu, only to find a katana at her neck and a slightly bloodied Naruto holding it and a kunai at her back. Looking around, she noticed Yugito seals and her eyes widen as she tried to close her eyes but wasn't fast enough.

_"Kanashibari no jutsu!"_

In an instant, Anko felt her body fall limp as she stared Yugito in the eyes, unable to do anything as Naruto smirked lightly. "We win nee-chan."

Pulling his katana and kunai back, Yugito released her jutsu letting Anko free. The said snaked jounin sighed lightly at both of them before pouting. "You both got lucky. I had too much fun last night. Fu fu fu."

Both shivered at the thought, not wanting to know who it was she was torturing and shook their heads as all three headed home.

Meanwhile a certain weasel sneezed.

* * *

Well, this chapter is shorter than I wanted it, it's still exactly what I wanted. So Read and Review. 


	5. Training with the Stoic and the Perv

A/N: ... Damn, it has been a while since I've updated this. Sorry for it being so late, but I just really couldn't get in the mood to write it. I really am still not inspired for this, so don't expect quick updates for this story. Don't think for one second I'm abandoning this because I'm not. I like this story too much to do so. I'm probably going to be writing Blood Naruto and Devil Fox a lot more frequently than normal as it is my second closest to being finished/newest story, I have the most inspiration to write hem and due to the lack of time I have to write, they are the simplest to work on... for now.

Now onto the question of who I have for Naruto's pairing as I've gotten a few people asking about it. While I originally planned this as a Naruto/Yugito story, right now I have a few options and I'm looking at them to see how they'll fit the story. While I am a Naru/Yugi shipper, I rather have a pairing that will flow with the story better then having it just being Naruto and Yugito. So to answer all of you, no the pairing is not set though I will tell you who I'm pondering over. Yugito, Hana, Miko are the top three choices with Anko and Kyuubi trailing. The later two are unlikely as they are more sister/mother figures to Naruto, but still possible as a lot of the story hasn't been set in stone yet though I already have at least hinted on Itachi/Anko and that is almost a lock in. This will not be a harem and will be a single pairing, so sorry for all of those that wish for more. But for now, I'll leave it on the summary as Naruto-Yugito as that is the pairing I hope to achieve.

I Do Not Own Naruto. Kishimoto does even if he is an asshole and has officially turned Sasuke in an antagonist.

* * *

Naruto twitched heavily along with both Hana and Miko as they pulled weeds out of the flower bed in the Yamanaka's flower bed behind their shop. Both Naruto and Miko knew that D-rank missions were going to suck, but this was over the top for them. Even Hayate began helping them to speed up the process as he was down right bored and wanting to get back to Yugao, mainly because he was still giddy about becoming a father. All three were glad for the help, but they were also kind of wishing he would stop screwing up and pulling out a flower every now and then, though it didn't matter as Inoishi's wife was watching them with an amused smile.

"Hey mom! Guess what!" A young girl's voice sounded out through the flower shop. In an instant the door besides Mrs. Yamanaka swung open and a young platinum blonde around the same age as Naruto ran through it with an excited look on her face. All three gennin scrunched up their noses seeing the excitement on her face, but ignored it for now as she was still a child.

The elder Yamanaka looked down at her daughter and smiled before shaking her head knowing something was up or that she was planning something. Either way, it normally meant she or Inoishi had to do something or they were going to end up paying for it one way or another. "Well hello to you to Ino-chan. Now what exactly is it you're all excited about?"

Ino's smile never left her face as she refrained from bouncing on her heals as she seemed to be a little too energetic. Mrs. Yamanaka was absently wondering if she had eaten an entire jar of cookies, but shook that thought off as Ino was like this when she got something or something good happened. "Our first class rankings came out today!" All three gennins along with Hayate winced at the volume of her voice but the latter covered his up with a well timed cough while Mrs. Yamanaka nodded as she waited for Ino to go on. "And guess what! I'm third on the list behind Sasuke-kun and Shino meaning I'm the top girl ninja in the class!"

Mrs. Yamanaka smiled at her while nodding her head as she was quite proud that her daughter was the best kunoichi, but she also knew it really didn't matter much as it after all was just the first rankings. Naruto and Hana rolled their eyes knowing the same as well as they finished up their rows. Hayate really didn't care but Miko scoff at what Ino said, getting annoyed by the girl already. She already knew of her from her little brother, but she didn't really know he was actually telling her the truth on how she acted.

Of course Ino heard this and instantly her joyful mood turned fowl as she rounded on Miko, who was mildly surprised she got a rise out of the girl but didn't show it as she plucked the last weed from her row. "Hey! Who do you think you are miss stuck up? I bet your team is full of the rejects of your..." Before she could finish, she noticed Naruto and remembered what Iruka had said about him finishing at the top of his class.

Even though Ino hadn't finished, Miko's eyes narrowed dangerously at the girl as she refrained herself from activating her Sharingan as that would be seen as an act of aggression by Mrs. Yamanaka and they might not get paid for their lame mission. Standing up and dusting herself off, she gave Ino a cold glare. "Girl, I already know about you from otouto and if you're behind him, you have a long way to go before you're on my level. Sasuke hasn't even landed a hit on me during our spars and I know he goes all out."

Ino paled at the girl's words, but not as much for them but because she was Sasuke older sister and she had just insulted her. Miko smirked at this and walked over to her team, who was besides Hayate and Mrs. Yamanaka. She nodded lightly at her in apology, but the older woman shook her head as she handed her part of the pay. Turning around, Miko shook her head at the still stunned Ino before smirking once more. "Oh by the way, stop hounding otouto like you do as he really hates it. If you really like him, try becoming his friend."

The younger girl blinked in confusion hearing this while Mrs. Yamanaka smiled as the three gennin and jounin instructor left. As they exited the building, Hayate turned to the three of them and coughed lightly. "Guys, I have mission I have to leave for tonight and I won't be back for a week or two. It's nothing dangerous, it just happens to be a long trip. So while I'm away, Hana you are the group leader." Naruto scowled at this, but Hayate quickly saw this and explained right after he coughed on reflex again. "Naruto, you're not the group leader as Hana has more experience as a gennin then you. Now Hana, even though you are the group leader I will have a few friends to check up on you three and possibly help you train."

Hana nodded lightly in understanding. While she was somewhat upset that he was leaving her alone after what happened to her former teammates, she knew it would happen sooner or later. "Hai sensei. I'll make sure we train, but will we still do missions?"

Seeing Hayate shake his head, Hana nodded in understanding. Inside of Hana, a chibi Hana began dancing in excitement for not having to do lame missions for a week or two. The same thing was playing in both Hayate and Miko's minds. Naruto was different as Kyuubi was beating the hell out of the chibi version of him as the dance was something she didn't want to wake up to. Sighing and shaking his head of that image, he looked over at his teammates before nodding at sensei along with Miko. Hayate smiled at both of them before patting all three on the shoulder. "Alright. I'll see you in a week or two. Naruto, watch after Yugao for me."

Naruto nodded as while he was mentally shaking his head as both he and Miko found out quickly that Hayate was somewhat obsessive, especially when it came to Yugao. With a swirl of leaves, Hayate was gone leaving the three behind. Naruto was about to take his que and do the same when he found two pair of hands on his shoulders. Looking back he noticed both Hana and Miko glaring at him as the former spoke. "Not this time. You're coming with us so we can know more about each other."

Neither Hana or Miko were thinking exactly that as they were more interested in learning more about him. Over the last couple of days they had as a team, Naruto had done his best to say as little as possible during their missions. They hadn't gotten around to training as a team as Hayate was still way too giddy over being a father and was dismissing them after each mission. And add in that they both had experiences with him before as their father/mother would bring him home every now and then to try and get him to interact with Sasuke/Kiba and had always ended in failure.

"Hn. I'm sure you are." Naruto answered in an almost emotionless voice as he always did with people he had just met but with a very slight tone of sarcasm in it as he had already figured out what they wanted. While he was all for having a team, he just wished he had people that he knew on the said team. He had met them before they had became a team, but nothing more then seeing them when one of the clan heads brought him to their home for a short while.

Both girls' gritted their teeth at his answer as they were slightly irked at the fact that he saw right through them. Miko being the more composed of the two was the first to speak for them. "Naruto, one way or another we are going to break you of your antisocialism so we can be a team because you know we are a team now."

"Fu fu fu. Now did I hear someone say break and Naruto in the same sentence?" An eerie feminine voice came from behind Naruto, who had become slightly pale knowing who it was all too well. Both girls looked up to see Anko smirking wickedly at them while spinning her kunai around her finger carelessly. Hana having met Anko before smirked and nodded making Anko's smirk grow. "Well, I guess I should help you break the twerp but I've been trying for the last couple of years and it hasn't worked yet. And besides..."

Anko caught her kunai's handle mid spin and brought it down to Naruto's head, slicing it open. Both Hana and Miko gasped in surprise before narrowing their eyes as Naruto burst into smoke. "Naruto isn't even her right now. He created a Kage Bunshin and kawarimied with it when he heard me before booking it towards his and Yugi-chan's apartment." As she finished, both girl's narrowed their eyes dangerously at Anko as they heard this, but were wondering who Yugi-chan was. As both planned on getting revenge on the blonde haired object of their rage, Anko interrupted them. "And besides, Naruto just isn't the type to converse with other people."

Both looked over at Anko in wonder as they were getting more from her then they had from Naruto the few days they had been a team. Anko noticed this and shook her head at them. "Don't even think about using me to learn more about him as I won't tell you without his permission. Just know this, he only talks to those who he can trust his life with meaning he has only a handful of people that he talks to. You three are on a team so you will be able to prove yourself to him sooner or later. Give it time and he will eventually open up to you. But for now, try and lay off him somewhat as I doubt anyone in this village could walk in his shoes and still be sane. Now get out of my fucking way. I have a torture session to get to and I heard the gaki so I dropped down to see him."

Needless to say Hana and Miko moved out of Anko's way as she walked past them with a sickenly sweet grin on her face that made both shudder. Once she was out of sight, Hana sighed lightly as she looked down at her three partners. What Anko had said about being in Naruto's shoes didn't sit with her well and part of her was dying to know why while the other was beginning to understand his reclusiveness. Sighing and shaking her head, she turned to Miko and smiled half heartedly. "I guess I'll see you later."

"Yeah, same to you." Miko said as she was mulling over the little she had learned from what the purple haired Anbu had said. While it wasn't much more then they had already known, but it was more than nothing. With a quick nod to the other the left to their respective homes while thinking of a blonde hair boy.

* * *

Sarutobi sighed in relief as he finished the last of him monstrous pile of paperwork knowing that he had at least a ten minute break before the next stack came in. Seeing he could relax somewhat, he pulled out his pipe and was about to light it when a small smile graced his lips as he turned over to the window. "Well are you going to come in or just stay out there all day, Jiraiya?"

The sliding door to the patio outside his office slid open and a man with snow white hair wearing his own unique style of clothing and a rather large scroll strapped to his back slipped into the room with a wide smile on his face. "I see you still haven't gone senile on us yet sensei." Sarutobi scoffed at that making Jiraiya's smile grow somewhat before it turned dead serious.

Seeing the look on his student's face, Sarutobi knew something was up and put up his privacy barrier around his office knowing that whatever Jiraiya was going to say was big. As soon as he put up the barrier, Jiraiya took off his scroll and leaned against the wall as he looked over at his sensei. "Sensei, I've found Orochimaru, but there is a problem." Sarutobi looked mildly surprised before nodding at Jiraiya to continue. "He apparently is apart of a group I have just learned about a few years ago. A group that has been slowly collecting the bijuu over the past thirteen years."

Sarutobi narrowed his eyes hearing this already disliking what he had heard as Jiraiya's face grew even grimmer as he continued. "Not only this, but it seems that they are becoming more and more active as they are collecting bounties while searching out for a final member. But they're not just searching for anybody. They are searching for someone young that they could mold yet at the same time would put fear into anyone opposing them. One that is said to be nearing the level of one of the legendary sannin."

"Itachi..." Sarutobi said quietly as he instantly knew who Jiraiya was talking about as there was no doubt in his mind that Itachi had become one of the strongest shinobi within Konoha if not the strongest only behind himself, Jiraiya and Tsunade.

Jiraiya nodded knowing his sensei would catch on quickly. "Indeed. They have a definite interest in him. But as much as a problem that is, we won't have to worry as I have already warned him of the possibility of them contacting him. He seemed slightly repulsed at the idea, but it is hard to tell since he is an Uchiha. The more pressing issue is who they have assigned to capture Naruto and the other vessel as someone leaked to them that we have two jinchuuriki." Seeing the pipe crush within his sensei's grip, Jiraiya quickly continued on. "While I don't know who leaked the information to them, I am going to find out one way or another. As of now, I do not know who is after the girl but I do know they will assign the next person they recruit to capture Naruto."

Sarutobi sighed lightly as he threw his broken pipe into the trash and pulled out another seeing that he kept spares for situations like these and lit it. Looking up at his former student, he sighed once more as he leaned back in his chair. "I see. I guess you're here personally so you could tell Itachi of this." Seeing Jiraiya nod, Sarutobi sighed once more before looking over at the monument to see Naruto was on his father's head once more. Shaking his head knowing that Naruto was there at least once a day, he was about to turn away when an idea struck him as he turned to Jiraiya. "Say Jiraiya, didn't you make a promise to Minato that you would train Naruto once he became a gennin."

Looking confused for a second not knowing that Naruto had already out of the academy, realization began to dawn on Jiraiya as he looked over at the monument himself. "Ah shit. This is going to put a damper on my writing... I was seriously hoping he would be at least of age to know about what's in it when I started training him."

Chuckling lightly to himself as he took a puff of his pipe, Sarutobi shook his head as he looked over at Naruto. "I wouldn't worry about that Jiraiya. With Anko as his adoptive mother it is pretty difficult for him not to know of _'it'_. Besides, I know he knows about _'it'_ as he tricked Kakashi by using it to his advantage and saw what is underneath his mask."

A smirk crossed Jiraiya's lips as he bit his lip from laughing out loud hearing that Kakashi got outsmarted by a fresh gennin. He was having such a difficult time that he almost didn't realize that Sarutobi had begun talking again. "And anyways, his jounin sensei is going to be gone for this week due to a mission to Uzi no Kuni. You could take over his training for this week while keeping an eye on Itachi as he'll be watching over the at least once or twice during the week."

Thinking about it for a moment, Jiraiya nodded as it wasn't all that bad and that he knew that the Akatsuki would be trying to contact Itachi soon so it would be best to watch over him. "Sure. I have nothing better to do since I just sent my script to my editor so my next volume should be coming out shortly."

Sarutobi smiled lightly as he took another puff of his pipe as he released his barrier seeing that Jiraiya was finished with everything he needed to report and the fact that his secretary was at his door. Shaking his head as she walked in and Jiraiya's perverted grin, he nodded lightly at her as she dropped the papers off at his desk before leaving the room and a drooling sannin. After Jiraiya came to his senses, he was at the window before he turned back to his sensei. "Sensei, take care. I have caught wind of a plot to over throw you. I'll do all to help, but we both know that you'll be able to find the traitors before I do."

Nodding lightly to his student, Sarutobi sighed knowing something like this would happen. With the declining economy, the law that protected Naruto much to most of the village protest and the spy problems they had been weeding out had caused this. Though he had an idea of who at least one of the perpetrators were he had nothing to connect them to his suspicions therefore couldn't lay a hand on them. Taking a look over at the monument and seeing Naruto shushin away, an idea popped into his head. "Jiraiya... I think I have a way to fix everything at once..."

* * *

Mourning arrived too quickly for Naruto as he quickly dressed himself and walked out of his room to see both Anko and Yugito drinking a cup of coffee and eating the last of the dango. Both noticed him but carried on with their discussion making the blonde twitch in annoyance as he walked by them. Grumbling to himself seeing that neither were going to make him breakfast seeing as he didn't know how to cook eatable for himself, he undid the genjutsu he used to hide his fire proof ramen cupboard and pulled out a cup.

On reflex, he caught the kunai thrown at it before throwing it out of the window as it exploded as he redid his genjutsu. "Never try that again nee-chan. Next time I will make sure I throw the kunai into your apartment instead of Gai-sensei's."

Right on cue a boisterous voice began screaming about some unyouthful person had destroyed his youthful spandexes. Yugito shivered lightly to herself as Anko dead panned as she looked right at Naruto. "You're paying for that gaki."

"Actually, you will be. It was merely self defense on my part and I can say I _accidentally_ threw it into his apartment. I wonder who he would believe more, you or his youthful apprentice." Naruto countered right back as he boiled the water in the kettle as he placed his cup of ramen on the counter.

Anko frowned at him knowing that he was right but she would be damned if she would admit that out loud. Instead she grinned at Naruto as she fingered another kunai making both Naruto and Yugito looked at her in wonder, not sure if this was a good thing. Both knew it wasn't as her grinned increased as she stood up and swayed her way over towards the fox vessel with an ominous aura surrounding her. Naruto's instincts were screaming for him to run as she was upon him, but he couldn't find the strength to do so as she bent down and looked him straight in the eyes... and smiled? "I taught you well gaki. Now eat and get out of here. I have to report to Ibiki for another torture session, fu fu fu."

Both Naruto and Yugito sighed lightly after they recovered from Anko's fear inducing walk. They both wondered at times as her mood swings seemed to change extremely frequently making them believe that she could control them. Both shivered at the thought as Naruto poured boiling water into his cup as Anko waved them goodbye before shushining out of the room.

As she left, Yugito stood up and stretched as Naruto sat down and began devouring his cup of ramen. Shaking her head at him, she walked behind him before hugging him tightly in a death grip. "I'll see you later as well Naru-chan. I have a short B-rank mission with a squad of chunin wanting to become jounin. Seeing that I won't be here, do not go into my room unless something is burning and do not piss off Anko. Don't want to come back and see here wearing a fox fur trench coat." Naruto waved her off as his mouth was full of noodles before swallowing most in one gulp making the blonde girl twitch before sighing. "Alright then, see you in a few days."

Letting go of Naruto, she stretched once more as he nodded again knowing the drill. Seeing him nod, Yugito disappeared in a swirl of leaves as Naruto finished his ramen. Sighing lightly knowing that he would likely be alone for the rest of the night as Anko's tortures sessions lasted any where from an hour to four days. Throwing his ramen cup in the garbage, he looked at the clock and nodded as it was time for him to join his teammates. Picking up his katana and strapping it to his back, he made sure the door was locked. Not that anyone used it, just to make sure no arrogant villager tried to enter their home and wreck it.

Seeing it was he disappeared with a pop and cloud of smoke before appearing in front of Hana and Miko in the same fashion. He noticed both frowning as he knew they had a tendency to be early, but he liked to be punctual so he ignored their frowns. Hana sighed knowing he wouldn't say anything before thinking of what to do. Before she really had a chance to, she noticed Miko's eyes widening so she decided to see what she was looking towards. Doing the same as Hana, Naruto looked over to what Miko was looking at to see Itachi standing in front of them in normal dress and his wakizashi strapped to his back.

"Well that all three of you have finally noticed me, I'll begin. As all three of you obviously know, my name is Uchiha Itachi. I'm here for only today and tomorrow to help with your training as Hayate is on a mission. Afterwards, I don't know who will be watching over you. But let's make one thing clear, you three will be working on your teamwork just as much as you will be individually. In fact, that is what your training will be today. Working together."

Soon as Itachi's finished his statement, he did seven useable one handed hand seals before touching all three of their wrists. The three gennin looked in confusion at what Itachi had just done when Naruto's eyes widened in realization as a blue cuff formed around each of their wrist before chakra chains linked together forcing the three into a circle while looking at the other. Instantly Naruto began trying pouring his chakra into the cuffs to break them, but it didn't work frustrating him. "Don't bother with it Naruto. They won't break unless all three of you pour the same amount of chakra into it. Not only that, there is a certain amount that you have to use to break them. If not, you will not be leaving her any time soon as the limit to these chains is one month. This will be your first team exercise and believe me, it won't be your last."

As all three looked at each other in horror as they realized the implications of the chains. None of them would have any privacy if they didn't get this off. While they knew one of their parents/caretakers could take it off, knowing it was a teamwork exercise might make them think twice about it. The two girls were obviously more self conscious about it as they didn't want Naruto watching when they had to take a bath or go to the restroom. Naruto wasn't as worried as he was used to being spied on by Anko at the most incontinent times. To make things worse, he was pretty sure that Itachi had used a genjutsu on them that made it sound like water.

The two girls began struggling against their bondage as they didn't like the idea of having no privacy around a boy, even if the boy had absolutely no interest in them. Naruto had to sigh as he looked at the two struggling and was holding his ground with chakra to his feet as they would have thrown him if he hadn't been prepared for it. Sitting down as the two continued to struggle, he began to study the chakra chain and cuffs. From what Itachi had said, they would open if a certain amount of chakra was flowed into them, yet it had to be exactly the same from each.

He also knew that no single person flowed chakra the same, so it would come down to chakra control. While he knew his was beyond mostly everyone's in the village, he wasn't too sure of the girls. Seeing that Hana had been a gennin for a while, she most likely had gone through a few chakra control exercises. Miko he wasn't sure about, but he was sure she had gone through some chakra control training seeing that her family trained them heavily once they became a gennin. Now the amount couldn't be to match his level of control as it was unfair to the two girls. Thinking on it for a few moments, his eyes twinkled as an idea came to him. "Tree climbing..."

Itachi frowned when he noticed Naruto sitting and figured he was just thinking of a way to get himself out when he heard what Naruto muttered. He smirked lightly having a feeling the blonde would have figured out what to do before the girls and he was right. Then again the water genjutsu he cast on them really wasn't fair as he made sure Miko had drank a lot of fluids before coming here. Shaking his head, he looked on with a small smirk as Naruto took control.

Although the two struggling girls heard him, they were unsure what to think. While both knew the exercise as they had done it before, they were wondering why he had just said it. As if seeing the questioning on their face, Naruto looked up towards them before ordering them. "Both of you sit and calm down.

Both hesitated, not liking the idea of being order around by an eight year old boy, but did as they were told seeing as he was the calmest of the three and may have figured out how to break the chains. As they sat down, Naruto nodded lightly to himself as he took another look at the chains and cuffs before nodding as he figured he was right, unless Itachi just wanted to be mean and had used the leaf balancing exercise. "Do both of you know the tree climbing exercise?" Seeing both nod, he continued. "Use the same amount of chakra you would to walk the trees and focus them to the cuffs. I'll correct each of us till it is exactly the same."

While Miko didn't question him as she began to understand his logic, Hana did so. She wasn't sure how he came to the conclusion that it was the same amount as a person used to walk trees. "How do you know that is exactly the amount of chakra needed to be used?"

Naruto mentally sighed as he didn't like to be questioned but then again in Hana's position, he would have liked to know as well. Seeing that withholding the information held no tactical advantage for him or their escape, he answered her. "Simple, Itachi took what he knew of what we could do and leveled the field out so that all three of us had to work at the others level. In this case, Miko's as she most likely hasn't learned water walking or anything above it. I came to the conclusion it was our control he used from what he said of how to release the chains."

Hana looked surprised as she refrained from looking at Naruto with her jaw dropped. While she was technically the squad leader, she didn't think about what Itachi said logically. She was ashamed of that as a shinobi, especially a kunoichi, couldn't be self conscious of themselves on a mission. She was also a little irritated that it seemed that Naruto was able to do exactly that even if he was six years her junior. Shaking her head of that thought, she began flowing her chakra like she was tree walking as Naruto had said. As all three did so, with a little correction of how Miko was flowing hers, the chain shattered and the cuffs disappeared.

Watching over them, Itachi had to admit he was impressed as Naruto figured the cuffs out quite easily. He had expected them to be chained for at least an hour before one had figured out what to do, but the blonde was known for catching people of guard. Hearing bustling in the trees nearby him, he almost activated his Sharingan before realizing who it was. Sighing lightly, he turned to the hidden figure before he jumped out of the tree line. "Jiraiya-sama. What brings you here now?"

Jiraiya shook his head as he had seen the little exercise himself and was slightly impressed from what Naruto did. While he knew of and about the boy from Sarutobi, he was glad that he could work with others even if it was forced. Putting that thought aside for now, he turned towards Itachi. "A request of the fourth."

The Uchiha prodigy instantly understood as he turned to Naruto. He knew of his lineage, even if it was an accident. He was seven when Kyuubi attacked the village, so he seen the damage the fox had caused and had witnessed the Yondaime use the jutsu that had sealed Kyuubi away into Naruto. After that, he was told what the jutsu was and ended up figuring out who Naruto's parents were. And if Jiraiya was following a wish of the fourth, it meant one thing. "So he's going to be learning his inheritance."

Jiraiya nodded in confirmation as Naruto walked up to Itachi with both Hana and Miko flanking him. Both could tell that Hana was slightly agitated as Naruto was leading, but she was holding herself back knowing the blonde haired boy followed his own path. Jiraiya frowned lightly seeing Naruto notice him before treating him like he didn't exist. Itachi noticing this quickly took over. "Well that was much faster then I anticipated. I didn't expect you three to break that before your scheduled time ended." Seeing both Hana and Miko beamed lifted Jiraiya's mood slightly as Naruto look as glum as ever. "So seeing I have nothing else, I want both you imouto and Hana to come with me. I'm going to teach you both something that meshes with your styles. Naruto, you'll go with Jiraiya-sama here. He wishes to speak to you."

Naruto raised his eyebrow in questioning as both Hana's and Miko's jaw had dropped to the floor. Miko was stunned that her brother had called someone other then the Hokage sama while Hana knew the man from reading of him in the library. Hana was the first to break the stunned silence between the two. "Why does he want to train Naruto? He's one of the legendary Sannin!"

Knowing he heard that before, Naruto began thinking of the names of the sannin. Of course there was the one Anko rarely talked about, mainly just how she was going to kill him, the traitorous snake sannin, Orochimaru. Next was the summoner of slugs and said to be the best medic on the planet, Tsunade. Finally there was the gamma sannin. His name escaped Naruto's brain as Anko spoke nothing but bad things about him and mentioned him in the same sentence as castration. Thinking of the name harder, he remembered it did start with a J, but he forgot what the rest was though he was pretty sure there was two a's and i's. Remembering he was the writer of Kakashi's book, he memorized the author and realized that the man in front of him was indeed one of the Sannin.

Seeing the looks of shock on the girls that were quickly replaced by envy and jealousy, Jiraiya spoke trying so smooth things over. "Sorry, but it was a request from an old friend of mine and my sensei. Though if you like, I'll teach you both a thing or two later this week if you like."

Both Hana's and Miko's eyes widened to gigantic proportions as they nodded hurriedly wanting to learn anything the legendary shinobi could teach them. Even Itachi was surprised by his offer to help them as Jiraiya hadn't done that in the past when he picked his apprentices, though Minato was his student to begin with. Seeing that everyone was happy with what he said, Jiraiya motioned Naruto to follow him. Naruto was a little hesitant at first as in his past meeting new people was never a good thing for him, but he followed as he knew that the man meant him no harm. Following him for a good minute, Naruto was beginning to wonder were they were heading.

Jiraiya of course was leading him to a place he used to train Minato as the young blonde reminded him of his father except the silence and stoic look on his face. Another reason was he was evaluating his skills as they tree hopped. While he knew the boy's chakra was exceedingly high for his age along with his speed and his chakra control was excellent from what he heard from Sarutobi, he didn't know the rest. While he was sure Naruto had no aptitude for genjutsu thanks to the fox, his ninjutsu and taijutsu were probably very high seeing who had trained him.

Seeing Jiraiya jump into a clearing, Naruto followed to see a river being feed from a waterfall on the cliff. The place was quite nice compared to the places he trained in. Sure there was evidence that training had occurred her before, most of it was faded out meaning the area had been undisturbed for quite a while. As he was memorized by the area, Jiraiya was thinking of what to training him in. He first thought of summoning, but decided it wasn't the best to start with as Gamabunta wouldn't take lightly to an eight year old boy summoning him. Next he thought of the Rasengan. While it was good, the boy probably had enough ninjutsu that he could get by without it. He knew he would end up teaching him it, but right now it wasn't his prime objective.

There was also the choice of teaching him how to harness Kyuubi's chakra, but he seemed to be developing fine in that area. Finally there was the jutsu Sarutobi wanted him to learn. The Yondaime's ultimate jutsu, Hiraishin. While he was all for it to bring Konoha out of the coming economic depression, he was worried that teaching the boy a deterrent force jutsu would go to his head. And there was the fact that if he ever broke, Konoha would be in deep shit as stopping a Kyuubi empowered Naruto using the fastest jutsu ever made was just something no one could do.

But there was one catch to learning it. He had to have a lighting affinity and it had to be active for him to use it. If not, he would never be able to use it. As no one knew what elemental type Naruto was, he pulled out a square piece of paper and handed it to Naruto who stared at the paper blinking. Jiraiya frowned as no outward emotion was shown, but shoved it aside for now as he would work on bring some out later on. "That paper will tell what elemental type of chakra you have."

Instantly knowing what it did without Jiraiya's instructions, Naruto pushed some of his chakra into it. What happened to the paper surprised the toad sannin as the paper split into four pieces. But each of those pieces began to change. One had started crumbling at the edges, the one beside it had become charred, and another had become lightly soaked while the last one had tried to crumble. Once more Jiraiya frowned as he had never heard of a person that could use all five main elemental types. But it seemed only fire and wind had become active so he would have to activate his lighting affinity so they could work on the Hiraishin.

"Seems like you are all elemental types, but only wind and fire are active. Seeing this, I'm going to be training you had to activate your lighting affinity before I can teach you the jutsu I have in mind." Naruto looked up at the man in questioning wanting to know what the jutsu was before Jiraiya had walked behind him and touched his forehead.

The reaction was instant as Naruto's body began to spaz out before he crumbled to the floor. He attempted to move, but he found himself incapable of moving as he watched Jiraiya sit down on the rock in front of him. "Now, what I have done was placed a current of electricity into your body to paralyze your nerves and muscles. Using your chakra alone you must negate this current. Once you have done this, you will have activated your lighting affinity. Now this normally wouldn't be recommended to activate someone's affinity as they'll activate in time. But with your status, this jutsu will be needed in the future as it could save your life and the ones you care for. I'll leave you like this for four hours before taking it off so you can go home but we'll be training on this every day tell you activate it."

Hearing what Jiraiya had said, Naruto began analyzing his situation. While he could overpower this current with Kyuubi's chakra, the sannin probably just place a seal on him from using his tenant's power before putting him back in the same exact position. But to make it worse, it was starting to become difficult just to think. He figured the current was messing with his mind and didn't like it one bit. Jiraiya didn't give him a clue on how to use his chakra, so he was going to have to learn this on his own.

Closing his eyes, he began to concentrate on the current as he gently flowed chakra into his system. It was quite hard to detect the current as he had never expected electric pulse to be within him. After a while, he was getting frustrated at the fact he still couldn't detect it and erratic chakra began to reflect that. Realizing his frustration and chakra wasn't helping his situation; he calmed down and settled his chakra down. In an instant, he came up with an idea on how to detect the current. He knew his train of thought would be interrupted soon as the current went through it, so he focused his chakra in his mind and prepared for the disruption.

Just as he predicted, the surge went through his mind. Flowing his chakra with the surge didn't work so he mentally frowned thinking that was going to work before an idea hit him. As the next surge went through, instead of flowing his chakra with it, he merged it with the surge. The result was what he wanted as the electric current began to dissipate. Checking to be sure, he began doing this all over his body before attempting to move it. Smirking, he slowly stood up and glared at the pervert as he was looking towards the water. "What next?"

Jiraiya froze as he heard Naruto's voice. There was no way the kid got the hang of the jutsu so quickly. Not even Minato had did it in one day. Turning around slowly, he looked over to Naruto to see him standing up with a slight shit eating grin on his face as he glared at him. He shivered lightly at the look as it reminded him to much of a certain purple haired jounin. But to make sure he had activated his lighting element, he activated a seal on his left eye that allowed him to see the elements within a person. While useful, he made a point not to use it as it hurt like hell after he was finished with it. Seeing the fire and wind swirling in his body, he nodded lighting pulses around him meaning he had done what he set to and in record time.

"Nice work gaki. You mastered that even faster then the Yondaime Hokage could." Naruto looked slightly stunned at that revelation before returning to his stoic demeanor. Jiraiya smirked seeing this knowing there was some emotion within the boy, just buried under all the pain and sorrow of his life. Shaking his head, he pulled out a scroll from his larger one and threw it to Naruto. "Go home and study that. Meet me here tomorrow and I'll go over all the details as that is the basics of the jutsu you will be learning. Now go, I have research to conduct."

Nodding, Naruto pocketed the scroll and took off not once questioning what the sannin was researching, thinking it to be important. Unfortunately, there was another reason Jiraiya had picked this spot. Looking through his lense, Jiraiya giggled as he watched the girls in the river splash each other. Man he loved this training spot. He had to love having an apprentice; it allowed him to peep on women easier then normal. And that in his book was a major plus. Jotting down on his notes, he looked into his scope only see Naruto talking to the girls in the river. They all seemed to get angry at what he said and get up and heading towards him carry miscellaneous weapons.

"Oh fuck me."

* * *

A/N2: For everyone that is wondering, yes I am going to have Hayate train them. The only reason why I didn't start with him right away was that I wanted Naruto to train under Jiraiya for a little bit before going to him. Besides that, I wanted Itachi to make an appearance before a certain chapter arrives.


	6. My Nindo, My Life

I Do Not Own Naruto

* * *

Something didn't feel right. Naruto knew something was wrong and that's why he was up this early in the morning. It was only four in the morning, but the feeling that had come over him alerted him to something. But what was the problem he was not able to solve. Not wasting a second, he quickly put on his combat clothes and gear before strapping his katana to his back and pocketing the scroll he was given, he walked out into the living room before the front door and made sure it was look before disappearing in a plum of smoke.

The loud pop it made had caught the attention of his taijutsu sensei, Maito Gai. The taijutsu expert frowned as he knew Naruto normally didn't wake this early unless something was wrong. The only times he did was when he told the young boy and Yugito to join him in a morning work out. Knowing something was going on, he noticed Yugao slip out of her apartment with her gear on before noticing Gai. "Morning Gai. I'm off to work."

"Yes, I see that, but something is wrong. Naruto just shunshined out of his apartment." Gai spoke in a serious tone for once. He normally wasn't a serious person unless the situation called for it and this one indeed called for it. "May I ask you to inform my rival of this as something is up as I could feel the worry coming off him and as we all now… the boy has hard time showing any emotion. I'm going to wake Anko and inform her of this."

Yugao's eyes narrowed as she heard what Gai said before nodding. She was indeed worried as the boy showed very little emotion on a good day. Disappearing in a plum of smoke, she went to inform her ex-Anbu captain as Gai knocked on Anko's door. Waiting for a moment, the door opened and he easily avoided the fist that was aimed for his face as Anko stood their glaring at him, only wearing her mesh shirt and skirt. "What do you want Maito?! It is four in the morning and I'm not joining you in an extremely early morning workout!"

"Naruto just left." This caught Anko's attention immediately and she sobered up as her eyes narrowed dangerously as she looked up at the bowl cut jounin. "While I'm unsure why, I could feel that he was worried about something."

Anko disappeared in her room for a moment before she came out with her trench coat on and had all her equipment ready to go. She knew something was wrong if Naruto was showing or giving off any emotion other then boredom. She also knew that Yugito should have returned the night before last as it had been nearly a week since she left on her B-rank mission and she believed that Naruto had picked up on it and was getting worried himself. "Alright, let's go look for him and figure out what the hell is going on with the gaki."

Gai nodded before allowing Anko to lead the way as she would have the best idea of where he would be. She was a mother hen when it came to the boy even if she did have a tendency to torture him for doing something stupid. He just hoped this wasn't one of those situations.

* * *

She wasn't sure if she could make it. This was far too much for her right now. Her team had been wiped out with far too much ease for this to be just a B-rank mission. Whatever it was, those two could not be human. Everything she did seemed to have no effect on them and she had even slit one of their throats only for her own teammate to have his throat slit at the same exact time by an invisible force.

Her body trembled at the memories of what happened, but she couldn't stop here. They were still after her and in her shape, she had to get home and soon otherwise they would catch her. She wasn't sure what they wanted or why they had murdered her team, but she was able to come up with one thing. Whatever they wanted, it had to deal with her and she did not like that.

Grunting as she ran, she ignored all the pain in her body and her broken fibula in her left leg. She had plenty of other broken bones and wounds that she couldn't worry about it otherwise she was going to die. Even with the power she had, she knew she would die if she could not get home. She just prayed she had enough in the tank that she could.

* * *

For one of the few times in his life, Naruto was completely relying on Kyuubi as she had awoken and knew what was causing the problem. She didn't like to wake up early herself, but with her vessel overwhelmed by the emotion that was conflicting with his entire being she had to step in. **"Kit, the feeling you are getting is anxiety. I would normally say don't worry about it… But something is wrong right now. I can sense whatever it is near the main gate. Let's head and stay there until we see what it is that is causing this."**

_**'Please, don't let it be what I think it is. He's becoming better each and every day and with the loss… of No. I can't think negatively right now. He needs me right now.'**_ Kyuubi thought to herself as she calmed down and began to search for the source of Naruto's worry.

Obeying the kitsune, Naruto bounced tree from tree till the main gate was in sight. Something told him to stay out of sight for now as it would be weird for him to wait at the main gate for something he wasn't even sure would come. So he kept himself hidden in the trees as he waited, not sure what he was going to see. Using the training her received from all of his teachers, he calmly flowed chakra to his ears, eyes and nose to detect what was coming. He already had an enhanced sense of smell and hearing, but this would only help so he could be ready for what was about to happen.

He waited ten minutes and nothing happened. Another ten followed that and as it was about to become thirty, he heard something behind him. Not even looking back as he knew the scents very well, he kept focus on the gate. "What do you want, senseis?"

All four frowned along with Jiraiya as he had been in the room when Kakashi informed the Sandaime something was up with Naruto. Something was bothering the boy as he was focused on something outside the gate as if he was waiting for something to happen. Anko being the closest to him out of the five jumped onto his branch before sitting besides him. "What's up gaki? You seem like you're expecting something."

Naruto stayed silent as he continued to focus his senses in front of him, not wanting to be distracted by anything as of now. He could tell his adoptive mother was getting slightly irritated as he hadn't answered, however something was wrong and he wanted to know what so he gave them the shortest and simplest answer, hoping they would leave. "I don't know. Something is going to happen…"

Anko frowned as she heard this had to wonder what was causing it. Nothing should be bothering him this badly that he would worry everyone else. She absently thought it was Yugito as he was a little worried when she took her first out of town mission, but that had been long since forgotten as he had gotten used to everyone leaving on their missions now. But the look in his eyes made her wonder if something really was about to happen as it was as if he knew something that the others did not. "Gaki, it's just your nerves playing tricks on your mind…"

"I smell blood…" Naruto interrupted her as he sniffed the air a little more before growling loudly as he recognized one of the bloodied scents before he rushed past the gate guards leaving the five behind in the trees. They didn't waste as second as they followed him, hot on his heels, wondering whose blood he had smelt. That had become painfully obvious as a blonde haired jounin covered head to toe in blood burst from the foliage just as Naruto appeared in that spot.

Yugito's eyes widened as she was not expecting to be welcomed outside the gates and by her senseis at that. But she was still in a panic from the two that were chasing her. "GET OUT OF HERE! THEY AREN'T HUMAN!" With that one yell she tried to push Naruto away, but the last of her strength had left her body as she fell into Naruto's arms and began to pant heavily. "Naruto… Get out of here… they want… us."

It was at this everyone began to see that the blood wasn't just hers. While a large quantity was, a decent portion of it was not hers and seemed to be blood splatter from high velocity blows. Anko was besides them as Naruto had laid her down, knowing that she needed to be properly stabilized as her wounds were grievous and needed attention quickly. She noticed the boy hadn't wasted a second to create a clone and had it shunshin to get a medical squad to her on the double. She was glad that he was so level headed when his roommate and his fellow vessel was in such horrible condition.

Before she could comment on it or check her wounds, two had burst from the canopy aimed straight for the barely conscious girl.

They never reached their target as the white haired sannin and a silver haired Anbu captain were in front of them and knocked both back with a vicious back hands.

Jiraiya's hand felt slightly numb from the blow to the masked shinobi as his skin felt like steel, but he knew the other had taken for more punishment from his attack then a simple bruise. Not taking his eye off his opponents, his eyes narrowed as he saw the black cloaks with red clouds before frowning. "Akatsuki… I didn't think you would make a move on one of our vessels so soon."

"Jiraiya of the Sannin… I did not expect you to be here." The silver haired man answered back, showing no fear of his opponents even if he knew the odds were against them now. Even without the sannin, they would be low against four very respectable Konoha shinobi but with him added in the only chance they had was to grab the girl and run and that one was almost taken out of the question as Jiraiya spoke once more.

"Naruto, take Yugito and get her to the hospital now! We'll handle this as you've done your part!"

The blonde didn't argue as he could feel the power coming off the two that Yugito had been fleeing from. Not only this, he could feel raw and unprecedented power oozing from the sannin that even made him feel slightly frightened of the man. There was no doubt this man had the power to be considered one of the greatest shinobi alive. Lifting his roommate up, he focused his chakra around them before they both disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Neither Akatsuki member made a move towards the village to try and capture the two tail vessel knowing it was virtual suicide to take their eyes off the five in front of them. Right now, they needed a distraction just to get out in one piece as the leader himself had given Jiraiya a flee on sight order for everyone except himself. Catching the eye of his masked partner, the silver haired one nodded towards him before turning his focus onto Jiraiya. "It seems that we'll have to try and catch her another day. For now, you may keep her and the nine tails. But know this, we will be back heathens."

A stream of fire forced all five Konoha shinobi to spread to avoid being hit. This gave them enough time to teleport themselves a little ways down the road before they rushed out of the area.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at this, seeing them in the far distance with his now revealed Sharingan and was about to summon when Jiraiya put his hand on his shoulder and shook his head. "Don't try and follow them. If we do, we'll only be in more danger as more may show up. For now, let's make sure she's okay."

The copy cat didn't feel good about letting the two get away for what they had done, but he was not going to disobey a command from the second-in-charge of Konoha. All five disappeared in swirls of leaves, heading to different destinations.

* * *

Sarutobi was having a bad feeling about today. He had been woken up by Jiraiya, informing him of Naruto's progress on the jutsu he asked him to teach the boy. He was surprised the boy had made so much progress with it in only a few days and was even able to use it somewhat. This was shocking him, however Jiraiya explained that it was nowhere near as fast as it should have been and it was directly to the spot. There were also some repercussions for using the jutsu as it put the young boy's body under great strain and he could only use it a few times before loosing conscious. They still had a long way to go, but he was making great progress.

Back to his gut feeling, he had Kakashi and Yugao barge in on them telling them that something was up with Naruto and they weren't sure what. He of course sent Jiraiya along with them to make sure it was nothing related to the jutsu and the strain it was putting on his body and mind. While he wanted to regain Konoha's honor and glory and the boy was the key, he did not want to risk hurting the young boy in the process as he was Konoha's future. Whether it was be the village's greatest hero or its destroyer, he was unsure. The boy had the right to do what he wanted with this village but he would stand in his path if he chose destruction.

Hearing a pop, his focus turned to the middle of the room to see Jiraiya with a frown on his face. Sarutobi curse knowing this was not going to be good as Jiraiya was almost always in a good mood, even with the depression the village was sliding into. Looking up at his student, he closed his eyes before his hands quickly pulled out his pipe. He was pretty sure he was going to need it. "Report what was going on with Naruto?"

"It seems Naruto woke up because he felt a distress call of chakra from Yugito… The mission was a sham and the Akatsuki set it up to try and get her. The three chunin that went with her are no doubt dead as she was hysteric when Naruto rushed out to meet her. …I won't lie, she is not in good condition; however, seeing that she is a vessel she will be able to recover as long as she is donated some blood. Both Kakashi and I met them before they retreated as Naruto took her to the hospital. I now know without a doubt that the masked man is Kakuzu, though I will have to do research on the other as I've never heard or seen him before." Jiraiya answered dutifully as he looked over at his former jounin sensei.

Sarutobi frowned at this before sighing as he rubbed his head. Pulling out a lighter, he lit his pipe before leaning back in his chair at yet another problem to deal with. "I see… It is lucky that Naruto was able to sense her from such a distance which is showing that they have indeed been bonding over these last three years. But what troubles me is that they knew I was going to send her on this mission. …There is a spy that knows exactly what I'm doing and I beginning to believe I know who. But until I have evidence, it will be hard to slow down his operations."

"I see, so you do believe it is Danzo that is seeking to over throw you?" Jiraiya answered as he looked over at his sensei with his arms folded over his chest before leaning against the wall.

Nodding as he took a puff on his pipe and exhaled, Sarutobi looked over at his student before looking outside the window. "It wouldn't surprise me any. I know he still wants the job even though he would start a whole new war with the entire world. He on multiple occasions tried to get Minato kicked out of office and failed each time. The man still has his Roots active after all this time and I can't find where the headquarters is to shut it down. I would have one of his agents tracked down, but they seem to vanish before I can get someone to follow them. It is as if I'm chasing ghosts…"

Jiraiya could only nod as his sensei did make a point. The man was a bother to the village and even he couldn't track down where the Root headquarters were as Danzo managed to hide it where no one else but who he wanted to know could find it. Picking himself off the wall, he turned to his senseis. "I'm going to check and see if the girl is okay before taking Naruto out to continue his training."

Seeing his sensei give him a slight nod as he took another swig of his pipe, Jiraiya sighed as he walked to the door before stopping. "…Sensei… Naruto is beginning to develop his mother's bloodline. That was how he was able to sensei Yugito from so far away as Kushina could do the same and tell who exactly it was from great distances and his sister was beginning to show the same ability… …I know the real reason why you haven't told him his family. It isn't because of who his father is… It's because that his mother abandoned him, isn't it?"

For one of the few times in his life, Sarutobi felt fear as he could feel the hatred coming off of Jiraiya in waves. He was just glad it wasn't focused at him otherwise he was pretty sure he would have to retire because of a heart attack. Before he could answer, Jiraiya turned back to him with his eyes burning. "Sensei, why did you never tell me she abandoned him?"

"How do you know?" Sarutobi spoke in shock as his pipe hit the desk as he looked at his student with wide eyes.

Looking at his sensei with a little less respect then he had for the last dozen years, Jiraiya closed his eyes before answering. "For the last eight years I thought she was dead until I found Karin in the Wave country… Marked by the cursed seal and with her mother nowhere in sight. I still tried to bring her back home, but Orochimaru kept that from happening. That run in with him informed me that she was going to try and join the Akatsuki… And if I'm correct, when they fail to obtain Itachi, she will be the one coming after Naruto."

Sarutobi frowned as he didn't even bother to pick up his fallen pipe. Crossing his fingers and resting his chin oh his knuckles, he glanced over at the monument before looking back at Jiraiya and closing his eyes. "… I didn't inform you as I banished her from Konoha when she attempted to kill Naruto herself. I tried everything in my power to keep Karin here with her little brother, but she vanished the day after Kushina left. If I had known that she had joined Orochimaru and is trying to join that group… I would have imprisoned her here for life… But now I know what I must do. Inform Ibiki that a new addition to the Bingo Book will be added. Uzumaki Kushina, S-rank… And a ten million ryo bounty on her head to be paid from my own pockets."

"Sensei…" Jiraiya muttered before holding himself back, knowing now that the old man had no choice. He was becoming the Professor once more and things were going to change either under his rule or the Gondaime's when whoever took the job came into power. A dark feeling crossed his face as he looked over at his sensei before frowning. "…I know you're having me to train Naruto so you can have a successor… But you want him to be a weapon right now, don't you?"

The elderly Hokage said nothing as he picked up his pipe and took another puff on it as he looked away from his student. A few minutes had passed and he had not given the sannin an answer and he wasn't planning to. The issue was off limits in his mind to everyone outside both the boy and himself. He noticed his student frown before he walked out of the room and closed the door, more then likely to head to Ibiki and inform him of Kushina's placement in the Bingo Book. Sighing as he left, he took one last drag of his pipe before closing his eyes.

"I'm sorry Jiraiya, but you wouldn't understand…"

* * *

Anko was extremely worried about two things. The first one was that Yugito was finally out of the operating room and was fine but her chakra reserves weren't filling up as fast they normally would. There was only explanation that she had was that even Nibi had drained all her chakra in the battle with the two Akatsuki members and that was quite frightening on its own. It was because of this that she was going to be in the hospital in a few days.

Her other reason before being worried was sitting across from her. Naruto had only budged when Yugito had been taken out of the operation room and taken to a room to rest. It was quite irritating to her that almost no emotion was on his face even if she knew he was far more worried then she was about the other blonde. And did he even blink? She swore she had barely even seen him blink since he entered the room and his attention was solely focused on the down blonde as if he was watching over her, believing something might come and take her away.

She was glad that he seemed to care for her, but at the same time it irked her that he didn't show it. The blonde was truly an enigma even after a few years with living next door to him and being his legal guardian. Sighing as there was nothing she could do right now, she leaned back in her chair before she heard a knock at the door. Mentally groaning as she wasn't ready to deal with anyone, she twitched seeing that Naruto didn't even react to the knock. Rolling her eyes at him, she somehow managed to open the door by throwing a kunai as she didn't want to get up at the moment.

The snake mistress wasn't too surprise to see both Naruto's teammates, who he still hadn't introduced to her, which irked her even further with the emotionless boy. However there was a little surprise in seeing Itachi and Tsume there as well. She quickly shook her head of that thought having figured that both had heard and wanted to see how both blondes were doing after their first run in with the Akatsuki. Plus she knew Tsume cared for Naruto as one of her children even if the boy was still weary around her.

And it also didn't hurt that she was dating the Uchiha though neither really had the time for dates. While she hadn't informed Naruto or Yugito of this, she had been seeing the raven for a month before Naruto became a gennin. Hell, she was planning on telling Yugito but Naruto was a different story as the blonde would become hostile to the Uchiha if he knew the said person was banging one of his mothers. Being the prankster that she was, she couldn't help but smirk at the elder Uchiha as that thought went through her mind. "Ah, Itai-kun, how sweet. You came here to check on little ole me."

Itachi only shook his head at her comment before leaning on the wall besides her. He understood her game and he could play too. However his version of play was pissing her off and he found that the little faces she made when she was angry at him were amusing. "Meh, it crossed my mind before I remember Naruto is my sister's teammate."

As Anko fumed at Itachi's answer and Tsume shook her head at the odd, yet suitable couple, both Hana and Miko walked over to Naruto, who had yet to notice them. This slightly irked both girls as they were both used to being noticed by others, especially boys as they knew they were rather attractive. They attempted to use that to their advantage on Naruto to open him up as he was around the age boys began to notice girls but unfortunately for them Naruto seemed as reclusive as ever. They both were getting slightly angry at him before noticing his attention was solely focused on the recovering blonde.

Hana looked away as she felt ashamed that she was getting angry at the boy as his room mate was severely injured while Miko winced as she could tell the injuries were quite serious. Having seen worse injuries, Hana was the first to walk over to him and check out how he was doing. "How you holding up?"

She knew that someone close to another person getting hurt or worse affected the person well. She shivered lightly as the memories of the Chunin Exam she entered resurfaced. Combing her hand through her hair as she washed that thought away, Naruto's eyes finally turned from Yugito's and towards his two teammates. "Fine."

Normally both girls and Anko would have twitched at his one answer response but the former two were beginning to realize that was how he was while it just irritated the purple haired jounin. Watching Hana shake her head, Miko smiled softly as she took a moment to scan over the clipboard with her Sharingan so she could see what all was wrong without anyone noticing before turning to her blonde teammate. "Well that's good to hear. We came by to check how you were doing with what happened…"

"And to come by to say that I canceled the team's training today seeing that this happened." Hana finished for Miko with a smile as the said girl was glaring at her dangerously for interrupting her. However they both frowned as Naruto simply nodded his head and grunted as his sight turned back to Yugito.

Hana growled at the blonde haired boy as she was getting sick of him putting them off constantly. Her body tensed and she was ready to pounce when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning back, she saw it was her mother shaking her head with a slight frown on her face as well before looking over at the blonde haired boy then Anko. "Mitrashi-san, take care of them and I hope she'll recover quickly."

Anko merely nodded as she had a feeling of what Tsume was going to talk about with Hana and let them go. Besides, she had Itachi to play with as he wasn't going to be leaving for a while to the annoyance of his younger sister as she was getting ready to leave as well seeing that Naruto did not talk to her unless it was necessary or he was forced to.

Taking her daughter outside, Tsume made sure the hallways were clear and the door clicked shut before turning to Hana. She knew that she wasn't going to do anything that the boy couldn't handle, but that was beside the point. "Hana, my daughter, do you realize why I stopped from striking out at MY god son?" The younger Inuzuka's eyes widened at this but Tsume quickly continued. "Yes Hana, I was named his god mother months before he was born, but that is not why I stopped you as I know both his adoptive mother and Yugito will do exactly what you were about to do to him."

This increased Hana's curiosity as she slowly accepted that it could have been possible for the young blonde to have lived with them the last eight years of his life. She mentally stored that away to ask later why he hadn't lived with them and shook her head at her mother. "No…"

Tsume only nodded as she figured as much and noticed Jiraiya walking down the hallway and waved at him as he gave her the same gesture before entering the room. Closing her eyes, she waited till the door clicked before opening them and giving her daughter the reason why. "He's earned the right to ignore anyone he wishes because the horrors of his life out match nearly every single person in this village. …And even the ones that have had worse… Pity him as he hasn't even turned ten and he knows the true horrors of this world."

Inside the room, all eyes turned to Jiraiya including Naruto's, who for once didn't even hesitate to turn to the person that walked in, much to the ire of the other three conscious people in the room. Walking over to the bed and picking up the clipboard, the white haired man narrowed his eyes at the injuries she suffered and could tell she was in far worse condition then he thought she was. Turning to his student, Jiraiya quickly reverted back to his normal self as a large smile crossed his lips. "Well gaki, shall we continue or do you want the day off?"

Anko's eyes widened as Naruto didn't hesitate as he stood up and walked to the door, giving her a simple wave to signify he would see her later. This was the same boy that hadn't even begun to trust his teammates in the weeks he had known them but within six days he fully trusted the world's greatest pervert. As Naruto walked out of the room, she glared daggers at Jiraiya before speaking in an icy tone. "What did you do to earn his trust so quickly while everyone else fails?!"

Jiraiya merely waved his hand as he walked to the door before stopping at the door frame and watching Naruto walk down the hall. Without turning his head back, he answered Anko in a nonchalant voice. "It's not that he trust me completely as that will take some time. Don't get me wrong, I do believe he trusting me faster then anyone anticipated, but that is not what this is about… This was a wake-up call and he knows I can make him stronger faster then anyone else can."

The purple haired jounin flinched ever so slightly that it was barely noticed as the sannin left the room. Her eyes fell onto Yugito and worry began to fill her quickly before she felt a calm hand placed on her shoulder. Already knowing who it was, she didn't have to look up as it could only be Itachi as Miko just left the room, probably in an attempt to follow Naruto and Jiraiya. "I know… I shouldn't worry… But with both I have to."

Itachi just nodded as he finally looked at the bedded blonde before looking out the window and into the distance. "As you should. But your worry will not have to last long. They will become far stronger then anyone can image."

Anko raised her eyebrow at her boyfriend and looked up and saw the far away look in his eyes with fire blazing within them. Just as she thought that was all he had to say and had looked away, his voice echoed throughout the room as if wanting to be heard by the entire world. "And I will be just as strong and show my strength is my own, not my family's."

* * *

By the time Jiraiya gave Miko the slip, he had found Naruto in the clearing he had taken him to before meditating. He however knew the boy wasn't just meditating. He was concentrating on something and that something was ten meters away from him, stuck in the ground. He frowned at this, but said nothing as the boy was deeply focused and wanted more then anything to learn the jutsu his father had left for him.

The fastest and most fear technique ever to be uttered in the shinobi nations; The Flying Thunder God.

He had his doubts about teaching the boy this technique so early and was justified as the stress it placed on his body was too great. But at the same time his body was already use to unbelievable stress. Personally, he wanted to teach him summoning and the Rasengan first but this was first priority now.

Truthfully, he was thinking of putting it on hold and going on with his regular plans but the wake-up call shot that down idea as the threat was imminent. He would hold out his promise to his student, not his orders from his sensei. The boy would receive the training the fourth had laid out for him and become even greater.

Still, the boy was putting too much focus on the Hiraishin and he wanted to talk to him a little before they got back to it. Pulling the scroll of his back and unfolding it as he sat down besides the boy, he looked at his young student and shook his head as he still had not moved. "Naruto, I've got something else for you to do before we continue working on the flash."

Naruto's eyes slowly opened as he looked at the white haired man before nodding and seeing the scroll laid out in front of him. Frowning as he only read two names on it; he went to the top and read the entire passage before realizing what this was. "A summoning contract… With the toads."

Jiraiya simply nodded as he placed an empty bottle next to Naruto with a feather pen. "Yes, it is the same contract that both the Yondaime and I have signed. Before I tell you how to sign the contact, I want to know… Why do you train as hard as you do? What drives you to become better? Is it to have others recognize you for strength? Do you wish for revenge for what the villagers have done to you? …Once I have an adequate answer, you will be allowed to sign this contract."

The blonde frowned once more as he would be forced to talk far more then he wanted. Not only this, he did not trust the man that much to let him know what he truly wanted in his life. The only ones that did know were Anko and Yugito… The latter's name brought his eyes to the ground as his hair covered his eyes. Clinching his fist tightly, blood began to flow from his palms and stain the ground while some of it landed into the empty vial.

Looking at the blonde, Jiraiya awaited his answer as he knew it would not take him long. While Naruto was not a talkative person, today had shaped him far differently then any other event of his life had. He could see it in his eyes, but he was not sure it was what he was thinking it was. Seeing the blonde haired boy look up and into his eyes, he could see the desire and will to grow stronger burning far brighter then anyone else's' he had ever seen.

"I become stronger as it is needed of me to do so. I may not care for this village, but this village's well being reflects my family's well being. I will become better to protect my family and if I have to protect this village to do so, so be it. They are my precious people and they above all will be who I will give my life for."

A small smile graced Jiraiya's lips as he heard Naruto's response. He could understand the boy's reaction to the village as a whole, but he would protect it with all he had as it was his family's home. The Will of Fire was burning within him even after everything that scarred him throughout his short life.

Picking up the bottle, he was about to tell him to sign the contract when something amazing happened. Something he had not seen coming. Naruto simply disappeared. Now that wouldn't have bothered him as much as it did if it wasn't for how he did it.

He disappeared in a streak of light.

Immediately turning to the kunai stuck in the ground, there laid Naruto passed out next to the kunai.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for such a late update, but do not fret. While it has taken me a long time to update, I've worked out a lot of kinks and now this story is planned out to the end and everything is now settled. The pairings have been dead locked and everything is coming along nicely, even if at times it is a pain in my ass to write. Unless I get the box set to Full Metal Alchemist, this should be the only story I will be working on, not counting the Naruto Chronicles. I want to get as much done quickly before my mind shifts to another story and maybe complete one. If you have any questions or comments, the review button is somewhere down there. Peace Out.


	7. Some Things Don't Change

I Do Not Own Naruto

* * *

Nii Yugito was not happy right now. As soon as she woke up, she saw Naruto was unconscious in the bed oppose to her in their recovery room. Next thing she knows the white haired man she knew that was training Naruto for the last week came by and informed her what the two men that killed the team she was with wanted with her. Having a pissed Nibi with her chakra still recovering, being annoyed that Naruto was out for some unknown reason and that he had came to try and help her against both of the S-rank shinobi really had her in a bad mood.

For now though, she would have to wait as Naruto was still out like a light. But those two… They were not human. She had torn through the one wielding a scythe and had even ripped off his head, but the two kept coming. Even Nibi's chakra was unable to do anything against the two which bothered her more then anything. She knew the cat demon was thinking of why they couldn't defeat the two, but so far there had been no luck.

Looking out the window of the room, she sighed deeply as she softly brushed her hand through her long hair. She normally kept it bound and braided when she slept as it tended to get in the way. She thought about just cutting it so it would be short but she couldn't find the courage to do it as something told her longer hair looked better on her. Seeing the sun beginning to come over the forest, she forgot everything as she looked over towards the beckoning light.

As the rising sun's light washed over her, Yugito smiled softly before sighing contently as the rays warmed her up. That was one thing she enjoyed inheriting from the nekomata. When the sun washed over her just right, it could be the best feeling in the world and she could forget whatever was troubling her. The feeling was so great that she couldn't help but purr softly and tried to curl up the best she could so she could soak up the sun.

Feeling better, she looked over towards the rooms other occupant and lightly gasped at the sight. It wasn't that anything was wrong with him. It was that for the first time in years, she could finally see that the boy was as young as he truly was. It seemed that the light had taken away the weathering the world had dealt him and for a moment, he looked like a child his age truly should look like.

Even her uplifted mood, thanks to the sun light, fell seeing this. The boy truly had gone through more hardships then even she could imagine. Gently moving her legs, she slid out of the bed and nearly screamed as pain tore through her entire body. It should have been more then enough to stop her from what she was planning, but the amount of medicine that they had injected her with when she woke up made the pain quickly go away.

Limping towards his bed, Yugito was at his side with her head tilted at him as the sun's light washed over his face. With its light, she could finally see his face clearly without a frown or a scowl. She wasn't sure if it was the sun, if he was in a good mood or it was just natural, but his face seemed to be glowing radiantly. It just seemed that it was a different person all together but she was sure this was his roommate and her brother…

She winced as her stomach nearly caved in at the thought. But that wasn't what made her wince. She sighed lightly as she looked down at her fellow blonde jinchuuriki. She really didn't know what he was to her. At times at she thought of him as a pesky little brother, especially when she attempted to bring a date back home. Other times he seemed to be the farthest thing from her, as if to have nothing to do with her. And yet, at times it seemed that he was more then anything she could describe.

Basically, Yugito was confused about her feeling towards the blonde enigma. She truly at times thought he was a little brother when he hurt himself trying something. And she remembered well what happened when brought back Kenta, her gennin teammate, from a date she had asked him on. Soon as he arrived, Naruto remembered who he was and didn't care much until he announced they were going out to both him and Anko.

Anko had merely threatened him with castration like any mother did for their daughter; however Naruto did not make a threat. He promised death and even went so far to call upon Kyuubi's chakra to prove he was not joking. Needless to say he called their relationship off. While she was still upset about that, she knew he was more afraid of Anko having heard that she had done that to men before.

Then there were times like these like this were she was absolutely confused as to what he was to her. She felt something in her body and even her mind. Her heart raced and she felt slightly dizzy. It seemed like that she would do anything he asked even if it was something that she would normally refuse to do. It was just something about him that she was not sure if it was good or bad.

Trying to take her eyes off him and head back to her bed as she knew she needed the rest, she looked at Naruto's face one last time and felt something far greater then before. Hovering her face over his, her entire body trembled, not sure what was going on as her lips were only inches from his. But before she knew it, the moment was over as her attention broke and quickly scampered back to her bed as he began to move and wake up. It was painful to move back, but she ignored it as she slid back in as she saw his eyes began to flicker open.

After the blurriness of his eyes left, Naruto could see the white wall and knew exactly where he was. He was in the hospital, room three-seventeen as it was the room they always put him in if available. Knowing that Yugito was there, he knew it was so he was there. He also didn't need anyone telling him that she was glaring at him as he could feel her eyes attempting to bore a hole into his head. Without even looking at her, he spoke with his regular emotionless tune. "What do you want Yugi?"

Yugito frowned as he seemingly knew she was glaring at him. It didn't help that his face seemed to become older once more even with the sun light blazing upon him. Something about that she found deeply wrong, but she put it behind her as a lot of things revolving around the blonde were atrocious. Taking a deep breath as the moment she placed it behind her, she looked over at him and gave him a piece of her mind. "I want to know why the fuck you came for me. If the others hadn't have followed you, we'd both be dead right now and those bastards would have Nibi and Kyuubi."

Naruto merely shrugged at her question. Sitting up on his bed, noticing his shirt, vest and katana were on the stand besides the bed, he began to wonder why he did go after her. It would make no difference to him if she was gone. He would be lonely without her, but it wouldn't be too horrible of a lose…

Kyuubi interrupted his train of thought with a deep growl. **"Get real kit. You would lose control and call onto my power if you lost her. I know what you truly feel better then you do, so believe me, I know you would miss her. She's a vital part of our lives now, if you haven't noticed."**

Shrugging once more, knowing better then to argue with his kaa-san, his thought trail took a different turn. Nodding to himself as he believed to have found an answer, he looked towards Yugito before giving her an answer. "You are family."

With everything that was going through Yugito's mind before, this only added to her confusion as she was wondering how he truly felt about her. While he just called her family, he called everyone close to him family. They could be something more to him, but that meant that said person was still family. Sighing lightly and putting all that thought aside to think on later, she looked over at Naruto with a light, genuine smile. "I see… Thank you, but please don't do something that reckless again. You're… You mean a lot to me to."

Tilting his head at her, wondering why she had a very light blush on her face, he shrugged his shoulders as he didn't understand how people could show so much emotion if there wasn't a need for it. Looking away and at the rising sun, Naruto took in the sight as it was one of the few things he could enjoy without anyone caring.

Yugito couldn't help but smile lightly as Naruto had a semi-content look on his face as he bathed in the light of the sun. That was one thing the two had in common outside of being demon vessels and blonde. Well, they had a lot more things in common, but she wasn't going to get into that. So she let him bathe in the sun light for a few more moments before a question that had been puzzling her came to the front of her mind. "Naruto, what did you do to get checked into the hospital? I know you weren't hurt coming to get me, so I want to know how you got here."

Almost growling in annoyance as he was enjoying the sun light, Naruto narrowed his eyes as he turned to the blonde haired girl and this time he did growl. "That's not your concern."

Her eyes flared unnaturally as soon as he growled at her. She could tolerate it if it truly did not concern her, but when he was acting this defensive about it, she would not. "The hell it isn't! And what the fuck is wrong with you?! I have the right to know as I'm more then your roommate!"

For the second time he was wondering why she was calling herself more then her roommate. He knew that he considered her part of the group he would even talk to, which was family in his opinion, but why was she calling herself more then that? He thought at most that she would be a sister to him and nothing more. Something about this entire thing was throwing him off and he was somewhat glad there was a knock at the door ending their argument for now as Yugito took a deep breath. "Come in."

Naruto was slightly surprised to see it was his Hayate along with a slightly groggy Hana and a nearly asleep Miko. Yugito merely nodded, knowing Gekkou and knowing the two girls were Naruto's teammates though this was the first time she met them while being awake.

Feeling the tension in the room, Hayate had to wonder what he stumbled into as he could feel the anger coming off of Yugito and the virtual nothingness of Naruto. He mentally frowned as the boy seemed to show no emotion whatsoever, but he would work around that for now knowing it took a while to earn his trust. "Sorry for the intrusion, but I heard you were both hospitalized yesterday and came to see how you were doing."

"Okay, I guess. I'm sure Yugao has informed you of everything that happened." Yugito responded in a dull tone as she leaned back with her eyes never leaving Naruto, still wanting to know what was wrong with him.

Sensing that as well, Hayate nodded in response knowing the two were fighting, which was amazing to him as Naruto did not seem like the one that would verbally fight another. He had a suspicion it was mostly a one-sided fight, but he digressed. Turning to Naruto, he faked his regular cough as he took a look at the boy's upper body and frowned as he began noticing all the scar tissue. "Well, I was informed that soon as you awoke that you would be ready to train."

"Huh?!" Hana exclaimed as her brain suddenly awoke as she looked at Naruto before back at her sensei. "Wait, he's just coming from the hospital, so how in the world is he ready to start training again?!"

"Rapid regeneration." Naruto answered plainly as he slipped out of the bed, allowing all three to get a good look at the scars covering his torso.

Both Hana and Miko gasped while Hayate narrowed his eyes at the sight before Naruto routinely put on the upper portion of his clothes with practiced ease keeping them from gazing any longer. As he headed for the door after grabbing his sword, he was stopped by Yugito's voice. "Naruto, I want to speak to you later once everything is done."

"Hmp, fine." Naruto replied casually before walking out of the door forcing his team to follow, much to the ire of both girls wanting to know more about the blonde haired girl as she seemed to know more about Naruto and they were interested on figuring out the enigma.

Giving Yugito one last look, Hayate nodded to her before following him with the two girls following suite. He also knew something was up to why the boy was in the hospital, but he said nothing as he did know the injuries he sustained. As soon as they arrived at their training grounds, Hayate smiled lightly as he stretched out, glad he was back home. "Alright, since I heard you did well on the team exercises my friends set up, I really don't have all that much to teach for the team."

"Also seeing that none of us really want to do another D-rank mission for a while," Hayate continued after one of his usual coughs, "I've decided to test you as a team so I can see where you're at before sending all three of you to the next chunin exams in Kumogakure."

It was abnormal to see all three have the same reaction for his entire statement, but that is what happened. Miko's jaw dropped thinking that she had a chance to become chunin so quickly and Hana was in a state of shock, not sure if she wanted to go to another exam so quickly. Naruto's look was equivalent to shock, though the small shine in his face was hard to gage. "So let's start."

In a split second, Hayate had unsheathed his sword and struck forward harmlessly but to his surprise Naruto kept up with the swing and met it with his blade to his. This had the sword master of Konoha surprised as Naruto seemed to be mimicking what Yugao would do…

He frowned as he remembered that Yugao told him that Naruto wanted a more offensive style of kenjutsu soon as he took him on his team. Shaking his head, he pulled his sword back before jumping back as Hana took the opportunity to use Tsuga and nearly took out his legs. To make things worse, Miko had her Sharingan active and had two tomoe in her left eye and had her hands in the fire seal before a great burst of flame was heading towards him.

Being a jounin, he focused his chakra to his feet and made a platform in mid air before jumping over the flames. What troubled him was that Naruto had closed the gap quickly and didn't have his katana drawn before realizing that it was only a clone. Taking it out with ease as he landed, he was surprised when he felt two set of hands grabbing his feet. He instinctively knew it was two mud clones and pulsed chakra to his feet and took them out easily only to be surrounded by Hana and three beast clones.

Focusing chakra to his sword, he made one spin cycle and a burst of wind knocked back all four only to find Miko and Naruto went underneath to get in close. He aimed a kick to Naruto to knock him back, seeing as he was the biggest threat; his eyes widened when his foot sunk into him and realized it was yet another mud clone. The split second it took him to disperse the clone of his foot, Miko had grabbed his blade and tried to knock it out of his hands.

Not relinquishing his katana, he drove the butt into chest before he felt a crack to the back of his head. Stumbling forward, he tried to figure out what hit him before realizing he took his attention of Hana and she got a good hit with another Tsuga. Then Naruto appeared in front of him and knocked him in the air and instantly knew what was about to happen having sparred versus Gai enough times.

To Naruto's surprise, Hayate turned into Miko in the air. Without second thought, he flipped his grip on his katana and drove it back as soon as he felt the cold blade of Hayate's touch his shoulder.

Hayate was in a little bit of a pickle as the katana was aimed right for his crotch due to Naruto's short stature. Without thinking, he replaced himself with a log before reappearing back in the middle of his three students and coughing to get their attention. "That's enough. I've seen what I needed. I'll think about it tonight after I give you something's to work on… Jiraiya-sama?"

Having realized that the white haired sage was there, Naruto simply turned to him before disappearing in a swirl of leaves to their normal training spot. Jiraiya only sighed before shaking his head. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm taking the boy to continue his training if you don't mind. I'm sure your wife has informed you that I've been training him this last week after your team practice."

Frowning as he had not been informed of this, Hayate hook his head before sighing. "Well, I guess since he's gone already I'll allow it but tell him not to leave us next time you show up in the middle of training."

Jiraiya nervously chuckled as he scratched the back of his head before nodding. "Sorry about that. I'll try to time it better next time. Well, I better get on before he does something stupid."

With a poof of smoke, Jiraiya was gone leaving Hayate in a rather bad mood. _'Why didn't Yugao tell me about Jiraiya-sama training Naruto? Is something going on her that I'm missing out on?'_

Shaking his head of that thought, knowing better then to question himself as he wouldn't get any answers that way, he turned to his students to continue their training for now.

* * *

Panting in the forest, Naruto looked over at the cause of his tiredness. That damn kunai was getting on his nerves and hearing what he did yesterday, he was looking to emulate it and was close to succeeding.

"That's enough for today." Jiraiya's voice came from behind him as he seated looking at his newest pupil with some pride in his eyes. "That's far better then even what I thought you would be by now. There is no doubt that yesterday wasn't a fluke, but you do not have the same mind set to perform it to that level. In fact, I doubt you'll be able to perform it as well as you did yesterday for a few years. But don't worry, you'll get there. Now come here so I can finish what I was trying to tell you to do yesterday before you accidentally set off the jutsu."

Looking back at the white haired man and seeing the scroll set out once more, Naruto nodded lightly as he pulled the kunai out of the ground before walking over and sitting besides the sage. Seeing him pull out the vial from yesterday with some of his blood that was miraculously preserved, Jiraiya handed it to him along with a feather pen. "Sign your name below the last name with your blood in the vial. Once you have, I want you to use some of your chakra to try and summon. The seals are Inu, Tori, Saru, Hitsuji if you didn't know that already."

Nodding and doing as he was told, he dipped the pen into the blood before writing his name below the two names. Once he did, he stepped back from the scroll as Jiraiya rolled it up and went through the seals he was told to use for the summoning while flaring his chakra. Knowing he needed blood to summon as he seen Anko summon enough to know that, he bit his thumb before placing his hand onto the ground and completing the seal.

In a large cloud of smoke fifty high and around the same wide, Jiraiya's face fell as there was only one toad that size and he just hoped he forgot about the sake deal he made with him a year ago. Too bad that was what the giant toad wanted soon as he was summoned. **"JIRAIYA! WHERE IS MY SAKE?!"**

Naruto was confused as to why the giant toad wanted rice wine from his teacher, he wisely said nothing as it was something between them and he didn't want to get involved so he shunshined out of the area as Jiraiya tried to find a way to please the pissed toad known as Gamabunta.

In a swirl of leaves, he found himself back in his team training grounds and as soon as he did, he wished he didn't. Pulling out his katana, he forced chakra into the blade and sliced through a rather weak fire dragon. Both sides passed harmlessly besides him, however if the jutsu had been performed correctly he would have been in a world of pain as that wasn't Karyu Endan.

Miko gasped as Naruto seemingly appeared out of nowhere and blocked the fire dragon she had been trying to perfect after catching glimpse of it in a spar between her brother and father. While she knew it was nothing compared to the one her father used, it surprised her that he was able to block it so easily as if it was only a simple Hosenka. But that wasn't what was on her mind at the moment as her face flushed crimson. "YOU JERK! DON'T JUST SUDDENLY APPEAR LIKE THAT! FOR ALL YOU COULD HAVE KNOW I COULD HAVE BEEN DOING SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT AND PRIVATE!"

Being used to behavior like this, Naruto simply dodged every object that was thrown at him until a kitchen sink was thrown at him. _'What is it with women and kitchen sinks?! That's the fifth different woman that has thrown one at me!'_

Getting annoyed at the constant objects being thrown at him, he used another shunshin to appear behind and take away her weapon pouch with a replacement jutsu. Somehow, that calmed down the girl enough that he was able to give it back to her without having to worry about another kitchen sink being thrown at him.

As she was given her pouch back, she looked at Naruto before shaking her head as she made sure she had everything. "So why exactly are you here? I thought you were training with the sannin."

While he wasn't very good with emotions, Naruto could tell there was resentment in her voice. It was even rarer that he was able to understand what the emotion was for as he was in this case. He was somewhat tempted to not answer her "I was, but," A loud boom was heard with screaming and what sounded like a roaring toad, "Hell broke loose."

A large sweat drop fell from the back of Miko's head as she listened to the chaos in the background. Not even wanting to know what happened to cause the small scale annihilation, she was about to resume her training when she realized this was the chance to get to know more about the blonde haired enigma. Taking her chance, she yawned softly before she lost her footing.

When she was about to hit the ground, she realized Naruto wasn't going to catch her. Luck has it, he did catch her. Only by the collar of her shirt, but he still caught her. Breathing in a sigh of relief that her male teammate wasn't a complete jackass to let a girl trip and hurt herself, she looked up and played the part of over-exertion. "Oh… I must of over did it."

"Then why are you still conscious?" Naruto asked simply as every time he over did something he ended up passing out.

Miko was sweat dropping once more at his statement, beginning to wonder if he had any common sense to realize that not everyone trained till they passed out. Growling to herself and getting annoyed at the boy's obvious lack of contact with other people and the ability to understand them, she pulled herself up and out of his grip. "Never mind, I'll walk myself home."

Feeling something was up and he really had no reason to go as he wasn't looking forward to talking with Yugito just yet, he decided on going with her. "Hn. I'll make sure you get there. Don't need Itachi-san mad at me."

Twitching at the comment about her brother, Miko sighed before shaking her head as at least she would be able to get a chance to learn a little more about him. The only problem was she didn't know how to start the conversation as they walked into town, heading for the Uchiha district. In fact, all she knew about him was what he said when the team first introduce themselves to each other and that the he had some sort of relationships with the blonde haired girl in the hospital and the purple haired interrogation specialist.

Sighing lightly as she racked her brain, trying to find something to start a conversation with the blonde, she came up with one. "So, what with you and that girl in the hospital?"

"Yugito," Naruto answered in a dull tone, not really caring about the question. "She's my roommate."

Raising her eyebrow at his short answer, she refrained from exhaling in irritation. It seemed that when he was going to give something that would give her insight on who he really was; he closed himself up. Taking a deep breath as they were getting close as she didn't live too far from the training grounds, she turned to the young blonde as they walked. "So what was up with her asking you to come back?"

Naruto rolled his eyes as he was beginning to realize that she was only acting tired so she could question him. He thought about not answering and in fact he was going to go through with it when he smelt something that wasn't right. In fact, he could feel something was not right. And now he could see that something was not right.

"NO!"

Miko sprinted over to a boy around her age, lying on the ground. Naruto was sure he was dead from the wound on his neck. What troubled him was that it was more then him that laid dead, a lot with similar wounds. To make this worse, he knew every single one of the deceased was from the Uchiha clan. That quickly led to two conclusions. One, the killer was powerful and fast enough to get around the vision of the Sharingan or two, the killer knew the weakness of the said doujutsu.

Jogging over to Miko, not liking either outcome, he placed his hand on her back. "We have to get out of here. It's not safe."

She didn't listen as she pushed him off and ran off towards her home. Naruto mentally cursed and ran after her, not thinking about what was going to happen.

Miko was too panicked to register that Naruto was chasing after her. She had to get home. That was the safest place in her mind as both her brother and father were the strongest of the Uchiha clan. But more importantly, she wanted to make sure they were okay as she knew each and every person that lay slain on the street and a lot of them she knew were strong.

Making it to her house, she nearly took the door off the hinges only to see her mother push Sasuke back before her eyes widened seeing how it was. "MIKO GET DOWN!!"

She didn't have time as the person appeared behind her with a kunai poised to strike.

_"DOTON: DORYUDAN!"_

Before the attacker could react, a large dragon from the earth slammed into him. Naruto quickly made his entrance as he pushed Miko in and slammed the door shut and covered it was twenty clones to make it harder for him to enter as he figured the house to be shunshin proof. He was dead wrong as a swirl of leaves appeared between him and Miko once more.

Naruto reacted as fast as he can and drew his katana, only to be forced to jump back as the attacker came straight for him before stopping. "The Kyuubi gaki?"

"Shusui! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Mikoto yelled in a panic. She knew what he had said and both her children would seek answers for it afterwards, but right now she had another duty. To protect her children. They were more important then anything else at the moment so any distraction she could get was for the better.

The revealed murderer only chuckled in response as he kept his eyes on Naruto, knowing he would try to take the opportunity to attack if he took his eyes off him. "There is nothing wrong with me, Mikoto-san. In fact, I feel better then even!"

Without warning, he turned into a swirl of leaves and was behind her, a kunai aimed straight for the spine of her neck. Cold sweat began to drip from Mikoto's face as she hadn't been able to track his movements even with her Sharingan active. She knew this was the end for her, but she had to make sure the children got away.

Suddenly without warning Shusui cursed as he was pulled into the ground and Naruto jumped out as the other dissolved into mud. "RUN!"

Mikoto quickly gathered both her children and pushed them out the door with Naruto on their heels. They didn't make it far when another shunshin appeared in front of them and Shusui appeared looking rather irritated as he looked at the blonde haired boy. "Boy, you better run and let me finish otherwise the only vessel Konoha will have is that two tail bitch. I'm not suppose to capture you yet."

"Akatsuki?!" Mikoto growled out as she suddenly realized what was going on as each of the clan heads were informed of this threat of Konoha. "You went to those bastards! You fucking fool! They're only using you to get to Itachi!"

Shusui snarled loudly before disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Mikoto's eyes widened as fear swept over her. He wasn't behind her this time. He chose Sasuke. She tried to turn to him to stop him, but there wasn't enough time as liquid splashed her face.

The fear gripping her lessened as Sasuke burst into water as Naruto sliced for Shusui's jugular forcing him to use another shunshin to avoid the blow. Knowing were Sasuke was, she rushed herself over to him with Miko, wanting to protect her two children. She cursed herself for not having a physical clone so she could get both of them out of here and help the blonde haired boy. She didn't understand why the reclusive boy was helping them, but he needed help as Shusui there was a reason considered the third strongest Uchiha. "Miko, Sasuke, we have to run."

"But mom…" Miko tried to counter, wanting to help her teammate who was selflessly taking their place without thought.

"MIKO NOW! HE'S CHOSEN HIS PATH AND WE NEED TO GET OUT HERE SO HIS SACRIFICE WON'T BE IN VAIN!" Mikoto yelled back as she picked up the frighten Sasuke and tried to dash when the blonde hit the wall in front of her.

Naruto was forced into the ground as Shusui appeared behind him and slammed him into the ground before stomping on his spine with more force then what was needed. Pain seared throughout his body as he felt cracks were the Uchiha's foot hit, but he kept his face neutral as he forced what remained of his chakra to his hands and feet and rocketed him up, knocking Shusui off balance. Seeing the opportunity arise, he swung his katana for the throat to end this fight.

The swing never had a chance as Shusui had mastered the art of fighting with the shunshin. He merely used it to avoid the swing and quickly reappeared besides Naruto's blade before burying a kunai into his gut, more particularly the seal. The surprise on the blonde's face was beyond belief having never seeing the shunshin being used like that before as Shusui's fist met his face and sent him into a building were Mikoto tried to take her family. "Oh, trying to leave so soon. I'm not finished with you three yet."

Mikoto was not feeling good as she saw the blonde as blood gushed from his stomach in a very abnormal amount. She was not going to get the time to get her children out of here. She was going to have to sacrifice herself. It was selfish as she did not want to depart so soon and she even let Naruto take her place. But now there was no way she was going to let that happen. In fact, she knew she should have had him on top priority knowing Shusui was working with the Akatsuki after what he had revealed so far.

Seeing him walking towards her, she turned to her kids and took one last breath as she knew she wasn't going to see them again. "Miko, take Sasuke and get out of here. Get to the Hokage and get him here. …As for you Shusui," Her eyes darted to the one that Itachi considered his best friend, "You will not leave her alive…"

Her sentence ended as a mass of chakra erupted from besides her. A whole new fear took over as she knew it was Kyuubi's chakra and it was in large a large amount. So large that the building had been ripped in two from it. Slowly turning, her worse nightmare came to life. She could no longer see Naruto in the chakra.

All she saw was the four tails flowing wildly behind him before Naruto unleashed a vicious roar that shook all the buildings nearby and knocked both children on their feet.

Mikoto was glad she wasn't the only one frightened as Shusui was petrified beyond all belief as the empty white eyes gazed straight at him. In fact, he barely had the time to avoid the claw strike aimed for his face. Another tremendous roar ripped from Naruto's throat, but this was one was of unbelievable pain as the chakra around him even shook with his body.

A small smile graced Shusui's lips as he saw this and breathed a sigh of relief. "It seems moving in this state causes him great pain. That's great as that will give my master time to get here and we can drag him back to the base…" His eyes began to widen as all the tails focused in the front, aimed at him as chakra slowly began seeping from the tips and towards the mouth were a mass of chakra was being formed. "What the fuck!!!"

The chakra exploded in front of Naruto, destroying everything in front of him for twenty meters. Not even the ground was immune to the technique as it was obliterated as there wasn't much of a dust cloud.

Hearing a gurgling sound, Mikoto turned to the source to see Shusui behind her without an arm and blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. A blade that she knew very well came through his rib cage as another Uchiha appeared behind him with his Sharingan spinning madly. A sudden relief overcame Mikoto as the threat of Shusui was gone. That was quickly replaced by the fact that Naruto was still using four tails. "Shit! Miko, let's get out of…"

"There is no reason mother. I can deal with now," Itachi stated as he removed the blade from Shusui's chest before grabbing his head and viciously turning it making his neck snap, "I can deal with him now. …I now have the ultimate power of our clan… The ability to tame Kyuubi no Kitsune."

As soon as Shusui hit the ground, Itachi's Sharingan suddenly morphed and took a shape that Mikoto never seen before. He ignored the pain it was causing him as protecting his family was more important then anything else right now, and focused his kaleidoscope eyes onto the Kyuubi enhanced and enraged Naruto.

It was as if his will was being imposed onto the great kitsune itself. Kyuubi's chakra began to recede as Naruto was becoming visible and he was slowly beginning to regain control of himself, despite the horrible shape he seemed to be in. Once he reached two tails, he stopped as Naruto was in control and draining the chakra was steadily draining without his intervention. Turning to his mother, his eyes reverted back to their regular state as the purpose he called the eyes out was met. "What happened?"

"I don't know! All this happened so suddenly I had no time to figure anything out. All I know is that the Akatsuki is somehow involved in this." Mikoto answered, still in a slight panic from seeing what had just happened, not knowing the Sharingan had such power.

A crash brought everything to a halt. While Naruto indeed had passed out, it wasn't him there attention was on. It was a bloodied and beaten Fuguku that stumbled into were they were. Both Mikoto and Itachi were besides him, trying to figure out what was happening before he pushed them off. "Don't worry about me! I'll live… That bastard… Was not human! Shusui is only the pawn here… That guy is the master mind… I hope Jiraiya-sama can deal with him…"

Itachi didn't even wait for his father to continue and raced from where he came from and could see two great amount of chakra not to far in front of him. As he arrived, he landed besides Jiraiya to see the same person that confronted him not too long ago, asking if he wanted to join the Akatsuki. His eyes narrowed as a chuckle came from the man in the orange mask. "Oh, it seems the one I really wanted has truly chosen his side… Too bad, but I guess I don't need him."

"What do you mean by that? Are you truly going to use Kushina?!" Jiraiya growled out at the orange masked man as he began to raise his chakra, ready to battle.

The orange masked man simply shrugged as he looked over at them. "Don't know. I'll let the leader decide that one. I'm not even a part of the Akatsuki yet as they think I'm too childish. Big meanies."

Both Jiraiya and Itachi were thrown for a loop at the sudden change of voice from an adult to that of a playful young teen. In that split second that they were thrown off, he simply vanished as if he was never there.

As neither could find him, Itachi turned to him with his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Uzumaki Kushina? They're thinking about recruiting her too! What the fuck?! If that's the case we best fucking tell Naruto the truth!"

"It is not my call on that Itachi… It's senseis so pick it up with him." Jiraiya answered in a solemn tone as he agreed with Itachi, but could not go under his sensei and tell the boy. Turning to the Uchiha, he closed his eyes as he crossed his hands over his chest. "Tell me… How many tails was it and did you see what caused it?"

Itachi winced lightly as Jiraiya had already understood he had activated the Mangekyou and it was him that tamed Kyuubi's chakra. Taking a deep breath as this wasn't going to be the first time he would have to say this; he deactivated his Sharingan and looked up at the sky. "He was up to four tails when I got there… And I'm sure this kunai was what caused him to pull on its chakra… It has strange seals on it and is covered in his blood… Seeing his only wound on him not from Kyuubi's chakra was the stomach…"

"So you're saying this kunai caused it… Great. Let's hope it didn't cause any permanent damage." Jiraiya grimaced at the thought before biting his lip as the Sandaime was heading towards them. "And now we have more shit to deal with… Just peachy. Dealing with Gamabunta is going to be my easiest chore of the day."

Itachi could only nod numbly as the two knew it was going to be a long and hard day.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, there is the seventh chapter of Way of the Jinchuuriki. Shorter then I wanted, but this story isn't about chapter length, just the story telling. If there is anything you want to know about this chapter or any other or if you are just confused about something, don't hesitate to leave a review and I'll answer back ASAP. And if at any time I'm contradicting what I'm saying; let me know so I can fix that problem.


	8. Tribute to the Eternal

I Do Not Own Naruto

* * *

Yugito was very worried. The fact that she was in the hospital more then a day was a bad sign, but the fact that Naruto had come back for a second day straight was even worse. And this time his injuries weren't from a training accident. He was wounded in combat as the Uchiha Clan came under attack from one of its own and an unknown assailant.

She had originally thought that Naruto had skipped out of her when it turned midnight. She wouldn't deny it; she was pissed at him and was going to give him a worse lashing then even what Anko could give him. That was when a few nurses wheeled him into the room with half his body wrapped in bandages. To make things worse, the white haired man that was training Naruto was with them.

He alone had made her very, very worried. While he was hoping to talk with Anko about what happened, she was outside the village on a mission so he had no choice but to tell her what happened. The massacre was horrific on its own; however the damage that was done to the seal over shadowed everything else. And she had to be the one to tell him what happened to it. That made her day all so much better.

That was something she really, really didn't like. Anything that messed with his already severely weakened seal was bad. In fact, she was tempted to call in the nurses as it was bleeding through the bandages again in what seemed to be like that of an eye. But it was doing that off and on and it seemed to be getting better now then it was a few hours ago. So she would do it herself as she steadied herself onto her feet and grabbed the bandage roll on the table besides her.

Figuring the nurses knew that she wasn't going to call them unless something was horribly wrong; she limped towards the bleeding blonde. With a little pulse of Nibi's chakra to her finger tips, she sliced the bandages off easily as her fingers turned into claws. Making sure she didn't accidentally catch him as her claws receded, she pulled off the bloodied wrappings before slowly beginning to apply a fresh set to his stomach, which was oddly fine as no blood was coming from it.

This made her wonder what was going on even more then before as the wound on his stomach was healed. However, the seal was in the exact shape of the blood stains on Naruto's stomach. She frowned, beginning to believe more and more that the white haired sannin was correct; she finished wrapping his mid section before limping back to her bed.

It was not going to be a pleasant morning as she knew the blonde would be waking soon as the sun was peaking over the trees. Picking up the set of clothes Anko left for her yesterday before heading out, Yugito only shook her head as she slipped her hospital gown off before slipping in her undergarments and pants before pulling on her shirt.

She thought about bounding her hair, but she had been wanting a new look for a while and the hair was what most girls her age normally changed their hair styles often. Grabbing a brush, she evenly combed her hair on both sides of her shoulders and thought what to do with it. As she was just ready to style it, her eyes caught movement from the other bed and instantly knew Naruto was waking. Deciding to leave her hair as it was, she turned to the waking blonde as she laid her legs over the edge of the hospital bed.

Naruto was really beginning to wonder if there was a God. As if there was one, he had a weird sense of humor as he still managed to end up in the same room with Yugito. He had been hoping that he could avoid talking to her for a while and was the whole reason he went along with Miko before shit hit the fan. Of course he had to get injured trying to help her and her family and end up back in room three-seventeen with Yugito still occupying the other bed in the room. How he hated things always seemed to work against him.

Figuring that he would get the yelling over with, he was about to sit up when pain shot through his entire body. It was like liquid fire was erupting in his veins. His entire head pulsed as it felt as if his brain was melting. His skin was screaming as if it was being stabbed by thousands of needles. His heart pulsed painfully as every single beat felt like a sledge hammer was smashing against his chest from within.

Then it came to a stop when he felt a hand on his stomach and even more pain before all the pain began to slowly fade away. His eyes slowly began to open and he caught a blob of white in his vision. He instantly knew who it was as he closed his eyes once more and took a few breathes as the pain was still coursing throughout his body. Once it was bearable, he opened his eyes once more to see Jiraiya and Yugito looking over him. He wasn't quite sure why they were, but he had a good feeling it concerned his well being.

Slowly pulling himself into a seated position, cringing as the pain spiked from the movement, Naruto looked at both of them before speaking in an indifferent tone. "What do you both want?"

Yugito growled lightly at the boy's voice and was ready to pounce on him but was stopped as Jiraiya put his hand onto her shoulder. "Naruto, do you remember what happened to you yesterday?"

"Something very painful." Naruto merely shrugged causing him to wince slightly as a sharp pain went through his spine.

Jiraiya frowned as he noticed the boy wince in pain again. He knew it was the damage to the seal that was causing this. But before he could say anything, Yugito stepped up in front of him and growled lightly. "Good, then I don't have to worry about yelling at you being an idiot! Did you honestly think you could defeat a jounin that murdered the majority of the God damn Uchiha clan?!"

Both were quickly surprised as Naruto answered almost immediately with an apathetic voice. "Nope."

Yugito was thrown for a loop as Jiraiya simply looked at his student with a puzzled look. He had always known that the boy would go out of his way to protect his friends and family. It was just surprising he had done the same for a girl he had known for only a couple weeks at most.

The blonde just couldn't believe that Naruto had answered her truthfully and without hesitation. It was just baffling as the blonde she knew only did something if he knew he could succeed. She frowned and placed her hand on her hip, wanting an answer. "Then why did you help if you knew there wasn't a chance of winning?"

Once again, Naruto gave her a simple answer as he looked her in the eyes. "She is… a friend."

They both knew who that he had meant Miko. But once more, Yugito was thrown into confusion as Jiraiya merely raised his eyebrow. Yugito had known that Naruto really hadn't cared about the raven haired girl all that much but suddenly she was a friend. Something was up with that.

Jiraiya quickly sensed another question coming from the blonde and placed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head at her. As her frown deepened, he turned to the blonde and looked solemnly at the boy. "Naruto, back to what happened yesterday… Do you remember when you were stabbed by that kunai?"

Naruto just nodded as he didn't feel it was worth wasting his time to say yes.

Sighing to himself, Jiraiya pulled out the kunai that was embedded into the blonde yesterday. "This kunai has a certain seal array on it, kind of like the ones we use to train. …There however is a major difference in what this one does."

"Just get to the point." Naruto commanded in a flat tone as he was getting annoyed by the pervert's stalling.

Jiraiya sighed once more before doing as the blonde asked. "The seals are meant to disrupt and make a certain other seal array malfunction and become utterly useless. …In this case, this one is designed to take out the limiter seals that keep Kyuubi's chakra from flooding into your system in great amounts."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the sage's words before going to confer with his mother about this. _'Kaa-san, is what he said true?'_

**"Seems to be kit."** Kyuubi responded as she wandered just outside of her cage, taking a careful look at the seal as she was slightly worried to why her chakra was healing her son quickly as it usually did. **"It also seems that my harmful chakra will no longer be filtered out resulting in a more painful transformation in our four tailed state. It doesn't seem like it bothered with the purifiers that pass my chakra into your system safely, just the limiters."**

Frowning at this development, Naruto moved a little to become more comfortable but stopped as pain spiked through his body. Gritting his teeth for a moment, he took a few deep breathes before looking at the white haired sage. "It also seems to have taken away kaa-san's ability to heal my wounds as quickly."

Jiraiya nodded at Naruto's assessment. He still hadn't gotten use to Kyuubi being his mother, but, in his opinion, the fox was doing a decent job of bring up the boy with some outside help. "Yes, her harmful chakra will no longer have any resistance and will cause extreme pain to use it from now on."

**"He's right. My chakra can only be used as a life line from now on. I believe you can still use one tail of my chakra safely, but you'll be far more animalistic then you were before. I also can no longer regenerate you either unless you use a large amount of my chakra. The most I can do is heal you slowly when my chakra isn't in use."** Kyuubi added on as the pervert was telling the truth and she wasn't one hundred percent sure about every seal as he was.

Naruto was livid at that and for once, others knew it as his face darkened and a low snarl escaped his lips. Taking a look at the kunai, he imagined the person that created it and began to mutilate him in various ways within his mind, pleasing Kyuubi greatly as it was quite entertaining for her to watch.

"Well this is just perfect!" Naruto growled loudly as he moved to stand up, ignoring the pain throughout his body. "I can no longer use her chakra unless it is absolutely necessary and I'll actually have to spend more days in the hospital as kaa-san can't heal me as quickly! Just perfect!"

Neither could blame him for losing his temper. After a few years of being able to depend on his tenant he was no longer able to use her power without it lashing out and harming him and possibly others around him.

But noticing the sudden influx of Kyuubi's chakra, Jiraiya's eyes narrowed before he calmly spoke up. "Yes, now calm yourself. You're drawing upon her chakra by getting worked up."

Sensing this, Naruto was perplexed as he could feel her chakra going through him at a higher rate then normal. It subsided as he returned back to his normal stoic self but this left him confused as it suddenly started and stopped for no particular reason.

Kyuubi sighed as her son couldn't see the connection between his emotions and her power. Thankfully, Jiraiya decided to speak up for her, even if he didn't know it. "It is as I thought… Your emotions will be in the determining factor of how much of the fox's chakra will be brought out. Basically, if you feel to strongly about one thing, you will begin to use Kyuubi's chakra."

"So he needs to stay like he is." Yugito said with her frown increasing ever more. She did not like the idea that he would have to remain emotionless to keep from going berserk from Kyuubi's chakra.

Jiraiya answered with a nod before a knock at the door brought everyone out of their own thoughts.

The door slowly creaked open to reveal Hayate and Yugao, he latter being in front. Seeing both, Jiraiya nodded before walking to the window as he had entered the room that way. "Naruto, there is no training for today. You need to rest."

Naruto frowned at this but couldn't argue as the sage was gone before he could say a word. Turning to the two that entered, he gave them a slight stare. "So what do you two want?"

Yugao ignored the bitterness in the blonde's voice as she was quite use to it. "I'm here to check both of you out. But seeing that you're going to be a little butt hole about it, I'll just take Yugito and be on my way."

"I won't be leaving then." Yugito countered as she gave Yugao a flat stare as she sat down besides Naruto and picked up his weapon pouch from the stand.

Groaning as both seemed to be in bad moods, Yugao pulled out a set of Naruto's clothes before tossing them to him. Both Yugao and Yugito blushed and turned away as Naruto automatically put them on after pulling off the hospital gown.

Hayate just shook his head and sighed. "Damn fox… It makes everything bigger… OW!"

Yugao back handed her husband and was tempted to strangle him as her face was beat red. The problem was no one knew if it was from anger or embarrassment. Growling, she turned towards Naruto with her temper beginning to flare. "Naruto! If you strip naked in front of me again or any other woman, I swear on my mother's grave I will beat you to death!"

Naruto just blinked at her before nodding, not understanding what she was so angry about. Shrugging his shoulders, believing it to be an adult thing, he followed the hot headed Anbu and his jounin-sensei out of the room, wincing every once and a while as a sharp pain went through his body. How he hated that he was going to have to get use to being sore.

As they left the hospital and seeing that his wife was in a better mood, Gekkou smiled as he turned back towards Naruto. "Hey, I got some good news for you."

Hayate should have known that all he was going to receive was a grunt, but it was better then nothing. Shrugging his shoulders, he continued on. "After seeing how well all three of you did yesterday, I've decided I'm going to nominate the team to the chunin exams that will be held in Kumogakure in a little over a month."

"Isn't it a little early? I doubt Miko can really take it after what just happened." Yugao responded before Naruto could. She could see he was excited; the equivalent of excited for Naruto that is. But she really doubted that the young girl could handle something as big as the exams so quickly.

Gekkou nodded a little before replying. "I know, but she is adamant about going when she came by this morning. I think she just wants to leave the village and get away from it all for a while and I can't blame her. I'll have to go over this with her mother, but I'm sure she'll let her go. I'm not saying it is a sure thing, but I'm going to be testing her over the month to see if she is truly ready."

Yugao raised her eyebrow before giving in as Hayate had a point. It wasn't her decision on the girl and if she wanted to go even after what just happened, she wasn't going to stop her. "I still don't agree with it, but I won't argue."

Yugito frowned, not caring about the conversation and was waiting until they finished to state her point. "The exams are in the Cloud?"

Hayate nodded once more as he turned to the blonde, who he could see was livid at the thought. "Then I concur with Yugao in the point that you shouldn't be going. While we are neutral with the Cloud, they are friends with Iwa, Ame and other nations that I'm sure hate Konoha and I'm sure they've raised their young shinobi to hate us as well. Just wait for the next one in Waterfall before taking Naruto and the other two to the exams."

"No." Naruto countered as he stopped and looked her coldly. "I'm more then ready for the exams and if Miko is feeling up for it, there should be no reason why we can't. This team was built so it could compete in the Chunin exam immediately and show of to potential clients earning the village more business."

All three were shocked for a moment that Naruto had said more then five words in a sentence. Yugito was the first to recover before crossing her arms over her chest and glaring back at him. "Naruto, as much as you think you are ready, you aren't. I know Iwa shinobi will be there and they won't hesitate kill you on sight just for being a Konoha shinobi. As strong as you are you have to know there are others out there that are stronger."

Naruto kept his ground and his gaze before countering back. "And how is that different from here, huh? There will always be people here that will see me as the fox and try to kill me for it."

All three flinched as Naruto put up a valid point. No matter what was said or done, there would always be those people. But before any one of them could comment, Naruto had one last thing to say. "And what does it matter if they are stronger or not. Once I perfect that jutsu Jiraiya has been teaching me, there won't be a need to worry about me."

And with that, he grabbed his weapon pouch from Yugito before heading into the forest leaving all three shocked, worried and wondering what the jutsu was. Growling as she wasn't finished, Yugito rushed after him leaving both Hayate and Yugao unsure what to do.

* * *

Panting lightly, Naruto picked himself off the ground. He couldn't figure out why he couldn't increase the distance when he transferred himself to the grounded kunai and it was annoying him.

Walking out ten meters, he sat down and began to focus his concentration onto the kunai. However, his concentration was broken almost immediately as he was forced to open his eyes as his blonde haired jumped right in front of him.

Naruto sighed as he gave an uninterested stare. "What do you want as you can see I'm training?"

Yugito clinched her fist as she was ready to deck the young boy as she was getting fed up with him. She wasn't sure why as he wasn't acting too far out of the norm, but just with everything that had happened recently had made her worry. In fact, she was quite sure that something was wrong with her as she use to withstand his normal routine of not caring as she knew he did.

Calming herself, Yugito looked at the blonde before sitting down in front of him. "Naruto, I'm sorry for doubting you and your abilities… But it is reckless for you to be straining yourself like this."

"So, I do this all the time." Naruto responded as he continued giving her an apathetic look.

This made her twitch and want to strangle him. "You're kidding me right? Did you not listen to a word that Jiraiya-sama and Kyuubi said?! You no longer have the luxuries you use to because of what happened yesterday Naruto! You can die from the stupid shit you use to do as the fox can't fix whatever you fucked up the way she use to!"

As Naruto continued to give her the same look as before, Yugito felt like screaming at the top of her lungs. Her patience was running thin and she was ready to resort to an Anko tactic and hang him upside down in a tree and using him for target practice.

She was very close to doing it as well, but the rational part of her mind took over and she calmly spoke. "Look Naruto… I know you want to go to the exams and I won't stop you if you truly want to go and your sensei believes you are ready. But you have to realize now more then ever that you are more vulnerable then you were before. …And I don't want to see you get hurt."

Taking a slight breath, Yugito finished with a light, caring tone. "You've become very important to me after everything we've been through."

"What?" Naruto asked in slight, very slight, disbelief as the last part reached his ears.

While he did consider her one of his precious people and he knew she considered him as one of hers, the way she had said it had made it seem like it was something more. It was as if it was hinting at something that went beyond his comprehension.

A small blush adorned her cheeks as Naruto looked at her inquisitively. At first she was sure she had just worded it wrong as she meant he was someone dear to her. But hearing her own voice reply in her head over and over made her wonder if her feelings for the blonde went deeper then what she first thought.

But after her run in with the two from the Akatsuki had vastly changed her view on almost everything. Everything seemed out of whack for her and she just felt different then she was before. Maybe it was because of this that she was worrying that something bad would happen to Naruto if he continued to strain himself.

Kneeling down in front of Naruto, Yugito shook her head as she wasn't sure what to think at the moment before brushing her hand through his spiky hair. "I meant what I said. You are important to me Naruto. I'm just a little screwed up after what has happened and it will take me a while to figure everything out. But you being one that is always close to my heart will not change. …I just don't want to see you get hurt or something that happened to me happen to you."

Naruto flinched marginally as her hand went through his hair but at the same time he felt a warm sensation in the pit of his stomach before it slowly began to spread through his body. He was unsure what it was but it made him feel very, very odd. Almost like he was satisfied but it was more then even that.

For some reason that he could not explain, he smiled as he lowered his head lightly. "I know…"

Yugito smiled softly at Naruto before sitting besides him. "So, what are you working on that is _oh so powerful_ that there will be no need for anyone to worry about you?"

Naruto was compelled to answer her at first but he was conflicted as Jiraiya had told him not to mention anything about the jutsu outside of the two of them. Still, he didn't trust the man all that well and Yugito was someone he would stand by even if she had been the one that had been murdering the Uchiha clan. Taking a deep breath, he pointed towards the grounded kunai before pulling out another from his pouch and handing it to her.

Seeing that she was examining the seals on it with interest, Naruto began explaining. "The kunai is essential for this jutsu… The seals are kind of like a Reverse Summoning in theory but it is far more complex in practice. Now, you notice the three prongs?"

Having Yugito nod as her attention turned to them, Naruto continued with his explanation. "Once they are grounded, it sets off a sort of alarm to the user, in this case me. Now once the alarm is going off and I have noticed it, the next stage of it activates and it begins to pull on my body and chakra trying to bring me to it. Now after all that, I have to apply chakra throughout my body in a perfectly even ratio before letting my chakra seep to the kunai, creating a tunnel to it."

"Now as the tunnel is created, I can finally use the jutsu and appear next to the kunai almost instantaneously if I have done it correctly. Supposedly, the longer I practice the tunnel step, the larger range I can have to appear next to the kunai until it reaches ten meters as that is, from what I've heard, the max range I can appear besides it." Naruto finished with a slight smirk on his face.

Yugito was rather stunned by his explanation, albeit a little irritated as it seemed that he had simplified it for her. From what he was telling her, it was like nothing she had ever heard of before. "That sounds useful, by why haven't I heard anyone else using this technique seeing as it sounds extremely useful."

Naruto shrugged as she handed him the kunai back. "I don't know. Jiraiya mentioned that it only reacts to certain people and didn't tell me why."

Nodding in understanding, Yugito shifted slightly before looking over towards the kunai. "So by guessing from what you said earlier you can use it but not at full capacity." Seeing Naruto confirm her by nodding, she smirked lightly as she looked at him. "So then, show me."

Once again, Naruto was at a dilemma as the pervert had told him not to use the jutsu until he had better control and he absolutely had to. But he also wanted to show Yugito as she wanted to see it in work after his explanation.

So once again, taking a deep breath he nodded as he closed his eyes. "Okay, but give me a few moments. …I'm not very proficient with it yet."

Yugito nodded and took a few steps back, wanting to get a full picture of the jutsu in work. She could tell it was nowhere near close to battle ready, she could tell that something was happening.

Naruto felt different as he evenly dispersed his chakra throughout his body. As it began to flow towards the kunai, he knew something was up and he wasn't sure this was a good or a bad thing. Still, he was this close and he could see the kunai as if it was right next to him as he entered the tunnel himself. Without warning, he was besides the kunai.

The only thing was that he wasn't right next to it. He was at least a few meters away from it.

He frowned at this. While it was an improvement, the feeling he got during it was off. Shaking his head, planning on asking Jiraiya about this later, he turned to Yugito and almost began laughing. The look on her face was priceless as her jaw was hanging off its hinges while her eyes were almost bulging out of their sockets.

Hearing snickering, Yugito snapped out of her shock and looked at the blonde haired boy in amazement. While the explanation had left her clueless, what she had seen was something she had heard before. She frowned a little before walking over to Naruto and shaking her head. "So what's it called?"

"Hiraishin." Naruto answered simply with a smirk plastered on his face before pulling out the kunai, feeling that he had made enough progress for the day.

Yugito stopped dead in her tracks as she heard the name. Oh, she knew it very well. That was the technique that had single handily took the world by storm and made everyone fear one man. And one she held very dear to her was learning how to use it. The thought sent shivers down her back. Naruto wasn't exactly the most stable person and giving him a jutsu as powerful of that could backfire and she knew it.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Snapping out of her trance, Yugito looked down at Naruto before quickly nodding. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Naruto frowned as he could tell she had forced those words out. Something was eating at her, but she wasn't going to come out and tell. He wanted to resort to one of Anko's methods, but he was rather tired and they had both just got out of the hospital. So he would let it go for now. "Okay. …But I have one thing to ask of you."

"Do not tell anyone about what you saw or heard hear today… If people knew I was learning this, our lives would be in further danger."

"I won't, you have my word." Yugito answered solemnly. She knew too well what the repercussions of people learning that a young boy, a demon vessel no less, was learning what was considered to be the most powerful jutsu ever created.

Taking a deep breath, she walked besides Naruto as they walked through the forest, heading for their apartment. Something told her that things were not as they seemed.

* * *

In the hospital's morgue, Mikoto sighed softly as she looked down at her husband's now lifeless body. The medics had done everything they could, but they could not stop the bleeding. Something was obstructing their work and they couldn't figure out what it was.

It deeply saddened her that the love of her life, her soul mate, had passed on. But she would not let that stop her from caring out his last words and taking care of her children. She still had them and they were more important then anything else.

"Mother, why did you call me here?" She heard Itachi's solemn voice as the door slowly closed.

Miko closed her eyes and took a few breathes before turning away from her husband. It was still hard on her, but she would move on. There was just one last thing she had to do for him.

Before Itachi could move, Mikoto had plunged a syringe in his neck and a strange liquid was injected into his system. Falling to his knees, everything became a blur and looking up; he could see his mother walk over towards his father before pulling something out of his body.

"Forgive me my son… But we must erase Madara from existence… And you are the only one that can do it… With these eyes."

Itachi couldn't understand what his mother meant. Who was this Madara she was speaking of and what eyes? As it dawned on him what she had taken out of his father, his body shivered before the liquid she had injected had finally taken affect and he had fell to the floor, out cold.

Looking down at her son, Mikoto closed her eyes before kneeling over him and kissing him lightly on forehead before whispering into his ear. "For with these eyes, you shall become invincible and lead our clan to greatness."

* * *

**A/N:** (Grins Evilly) Sorry, but I just had to end the chapter like that. I'm also sorry for the late update, but this chapter was really, really hard to start even though I had laid out what I needed to do for it. But now it is out and I hope you enjoyed it and if anything puzzles you or if you liked the chapter, leave a review. So with that said, Peace out!


	9. Fuck with My Family, The Hell with You!

**There was some problems with uploading, but this time it went through. So I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"So how has he progressed, Jiraiya?" Sarutobi asked as he took a puff of his pipe having just lighted it right before Jiraiya had arrived in his office, knowing he would be there soon.

"Hold on, she should be here soon. Then I'll begin the briefing." Jiraiya stated as he saw his sensei was about activate the offices privacy seal to keep anyone else from hearing.

Sarutobi looked at Jiraiya for a moment before nodding as he knew who he meant. He had been informed nearly a month ago that Naruto had informed Yugito of learning the jutsu and she asked Jiraiya to keep informed of his performance.

Hearing a knock at the door, Yugito entered and made sure the door was securely closed. As soon as she did, Sarutobi activated the seal and the room shimmered for a moment before reverting to normal, signaling that it had been secured. "Alright, so how is Naruto doing?"

"It is simply amazing… While his range around the kunai hasn't really increased by much, it is his range to the kunai that impresses me. …To be honest, I haven't found a limit. As you know I've been leaving the village periodically to gather some information, but there has been another reason. I've been calling Naruto to me to see how far his distance is." Jiraiya stated as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms against his chest.

"Really, how far have you taken him? And I'm guessing a kunai is left so he can get back without any trouble." Sarutobi asked, somewhat surprised by that and that he hadn't been informed of this till now.

"The farthest so far was on the far side of the Land of Wind in a small village where I got some information about both the Akatsuki and the demon vessel in Suna." Jiraiya responded as he only shook his head at the range Naruto had.

Both Sarutobi and Yugito froze. Having that kind of range was simply unreal as he could be summoned from within the land of Fire through and to the other side of the land of Wind. If he had mastered the distance from the kunai, he would be an absolute horrific nightmare for opposing nations to worry about.

"But how…? Minato only had a range of a half a dozen kilometers on a clear day. That kind of range is beyond anything every heard of… To have the capacity to strike an attack in the other nation's home lands is…. Is just insane." Sarutobi's jaw slacked as he tried to comprehend how this was possible.

"The difference is that Naruto can sense chakra from well beyond the normal limits of even the best chakra sensors thanks to his bloodline…" Jiraiya started before cringing as he let that part out.

"Bloodline?!" Yugito immediately questioned as she temporarily put aside Naruto's range of Flying Thunder God. "I know he can sense chakra from insane distances, but I didn't know it was because of a bloodline… And if that was the case…"

Sighing as Yugito was already on the train of thought; Sarutobi silenced her before he took another puff of his pipe and nodded. "Yes, we do know of Naruto's birth parents. I haven't told him yet as it was to be kept a secret until he has become chunin and able not only defend himself if he decided to let it be known but to be able to handle the weight of his inheritance."

"His inheritance?" Yugito asked as she looked over at the Hokage, who was very hesitant on his answer.

Seeing he wasn't going to answer, she hissed as she saw Jiraiya simply turn away as he knew to. "Look, I am more then Naruto's roommate. I am family and I look over him just as much as anyone else if not more then anyone else. I deserve to know as does Anko and everyone else that is close to him and it should be up to us to decide if he should know."

"I guess you are right… But in a sense you are wrong… Because Naruto's mother abandoned him after the sealing as she was like the rest of this village. …And as of now, she is officially a member of the Akatsuki and the one assigned to capture him. What if Naruto were to know that? How do you think he would feel?" Jiraiya responded heatedly as he understood where she was coming from but at the same time he knew better then to tell him.

Yugito's entire complexion dropped a few shades after Jiraiya's outburst. Sarutobi simply sighed as he put down his pipe and rubbed his temple. "So it has happened… Not even the reward I put out for her was enough to coax one of the villages to help us. …How to deal with this now?"

"I don't know. The only good thing is that they won't come after him right now as they are still trying to amass enough funds to support their cause. All I can say for now is to stall their operations and place both you, Yugito, and Naruto under heavy protection when they try to come after you again." Jiraiya answered as those were the only options they had.

Soon as she heard her name, Yugito snapped out of her shock before her entire body began to shake. Both men caught this as dark blue chakra began to coax around her, signifying her demon's chakra was being leaked into her system. "…I'll kill her. Leave her to me and I will get the job done."

"Not a chance. You aren't strong enough to fight her or her partner. From all I know who are in the Akatsuki, she happens to be one of the stronger members and she is paired with the strongest one that I know of, Hoshigaki Kisame. You wouldn't stand a chance." Jiraiya responded as he knew what was going through Yugito's mind.

But as soon as her eyes snapped for, both he and Sarutobi could see intense fire burning within them. Something about Naruto's mother abandoning him had triggered a fiery response from her and neither was sure why as they knew she had a mother not too long before she was transferred to Konoha.

"I don't care! If I have to train beyond my limits every day and have to be sent to the hospital to be treated every day, so be it! I won't let her get close to him… I won't let the same thing my father did to me happen to him! His life has been fucked over enough! He doesn't need that added to!" Yugito yelled out as she gazed straight into the Hokage's eyes.

Looking in her eyes for only a moment, Sarutobi closed his eyes and turned away. He had heard and seen all he needed to so he could make a decision. "Jiraiya, you are to keep Yugito informed of Kushina's whereabouts. From today on, Yugito you will be the Hunter Ninja assigned to kill Uzumaki Kushina, but not until you have been trained thoroughly and passed the test to be accepted into the Anbu's hunter division."

Jiraiya wanted to say something but wisely didn't. The Hokage had given him a direct order and he would obey even if he didn't like it. At least he would make sure that she would be well trained. The problem would be Kisame, but the Hokage probably was formulating a plan for him.

"Thank you, lord Hokage." Yugito bowed as she kept her temper under control along with the demon cat's chakra, not wanting to let another outburst happen.

The room shimmered as someone had came and notified them that the barrier had fallen before Kakashi, adorn in his Anbu entire except his mask was strapped to his belt. "Sorry lord Hokage, but I came to investigate after I felt the demon cat's chakra."

Sarutobi waved Kakashi off as it was nothing before clutching his hands and looking serious as he looked at the silver haired Anbu. "It is fine Kakashi… But I have a new mission for you now. …You and your unit will train and prepare for Yugito for the Anbu examination."

Being a little surprised as from what he knew of Yugito she had no interest in being a hunter ninja before, Kakashi was a little startled. "May I ask why, Lord Hokage? This decision is sudden especially with the chunin exams in the Cloud on the horizon."

"It is… But I believe you know Naruto's lineage better then anyone here and what Kushina did that night before fleeing the village." Sarutobi replied, informing Kakashi what this was about without saying too much.

Kakashi's entire body froze for only a brief moment before his fist tightened as he remembered that night well. "I do… Then I would wish to make a small request then. When she is accepted into their ranks, I wish to be transferred to the division and head the unit that will hunt her down."

"Granted." Sarutobi as he could see the same look in Yugito's eyes within Kakashi's. There was no doubt in his mind that the scarecrow was reliving Kushina's attempted assassination of Naruto and Karin's abduction the night after. "You may stay and join our discussion if you wish. This concerns Naruto and you may have some information to enlighten us with."

Seeing he was invited, Kakashi nodded and the room shimmered once more as the seal was set back up. "So what is going on? Is this about the Akatsuki's movements?"

"No, it is about Naruto under my training, his lineage and his progression of Hiraishin." Jiraiya was the first to inform Kakashi on what was happening.

For the second time, Kakashi completely froze but this time he didn't but he didn't immediately break out of his shock this time. The blonde haired brat, his sensei's son, was learning his father's technique. "Holy… How far along is he?"

"He can appear up to a little more then three meters from the kunai. …However, if there is a marker at least a few hundred kilometers from where he is, he can flash to it as he can sense the marker despite the incredible distance." Jiraiya once more informed Kakashi and for a third time Kakashi froze.

Kakashi, however, immediately became thoughtful on how he had such a range. "Is it possible that with his mother's bloodline that his range is magnified by nearly a hundred fold? I know Master Minato weak points was his chakra sensing and he had worked to get to the level he was at an at most he had a ten kilometer range."

Jiraiya nodded, glad that Kakashi was there and could simplify things for him as he knew his sensei almost as well as he knew him. "Yes, that is what I figured as well, however, there is another thing we haven't taken into account. Kyuubi."

Yugito was the first to jump on this, knowing how a bijuu could intervene in a subject like this. "Are you saying that because of the fox's presence that his bloodline might be stronger and therefore his range immensely magnified?"

"Close, very close. I'm saying that with her intervention, Naruto may have no limit to his range. He may very well have the ability to flash to the other side of the planet if there is a marker. …And I think she might be involved on his quick progress as she knows how time and space works… If we not forget that Kyuubi was tamed by Uchiha Madara years back." Jiraiya added on as Yugito was on the right track.

"That's right, I saw him use it before he suddenly disappeared. I also felt the fight between him and the First and I know she was there. There is no doubt she has some knowledge of time and space and that might be the reason for his progress… Because she cannot help him like she did. So she's making up for it with her knowledge." Sarutobi suddenly spoke, having caught onto Jiraiya's suspicions and knowing more about Madara then he did.

Nodding, Jiraiya pushed off the wall. "That is what I've come to believe as of now. She may not be telling him, but the information is getting there as she very much has influence over his entire body. Don't forget the fox can escape any time she wants or feels it would be needed."

"I know, Jiraiya. …So you will be leaving then, to check for any leads?" Sarutobi responded as he could tell Jiraiya was getting ready to leave and had full immunity to do so.

"Yeah. I'm going to see what else I can dig up before heading to the Cloud to watch the brat fight in the finals. There is no way they can't succeed as I have a feeling he'll use it sometime in the exams…" Jiraiya frowned as he knew that was exactly what his sensei wanted.

It would be great publicity, get more jobs sent back to Konoha and instill fear into all the other nations. Overall, it had almost no flaws except for one. The pressure it would put on Naruto. That alone could be the one thing that could bring his senseis plan down. He just hoped the boy would not crack.

"Wait…" Yugito softly spoke as she looked over at him before looking over at the Third and Kakashi seeing they all knew. "Before this barrier disperses and we head our separate ways, is Naruto's father the Forth Hokage?"

"Yes, my sensei is indeed Naruto's father and the very one that sealed the demon in his gut." Kakashi responded to her question as he couldn't see the harm in telling her as she apparently knew about his mother and what she did.

Yugito simply nodded to herself. "I see… I've been suspecting as much and when I heard he was learning the flash it almost confirmed it for me… I can see now why you no one told Naruto of his parents. It would be too much for him to take right now. But does Anko know?"

"She knew right after she adopted both you and him. I told her that night so she could get ready for the moment when he would learn of his parents. …Her request was the same as yours except that she is more then ready to join their ranks." Sarutobi answered so she wouldn't think that Anko wasn't the only one that didn't know.

"Alright, as much as I like to stay I got to get going. See you in the Cloud, sensei." Jiraiya stated before the room shimmered once more before he left the room and headed out.

Like wise, Kakashi and Yugito did the same leaving the old man in his office alone. Sarutobi simply sighed before he reached out and took a puff of his pipe. "The village future depends on all of you… Now all that is left is to see if the final piece can ascend and bring our village back to prominence."

* * *

It was early in the morning. The sun hadn't risen, yet a young blonde was wide awake as he went through his equipment and wardrobe. What he believed he needed, he sealed into separate scrolls, labeling each differently so he would know what was on each.

"Well, aren't you up early?" A voice suddenly caught Naruto's ears.

The boy wasn't worried in the slightest as he knew the person all too well. Living with her for a few years did that. "Hai, nee-chan."

Anko pouted that Naruto didn't flinch in the slightest. Sighing as she would have to scare Yugito instead, she shook her head before going over what Naruto was packing into his scrolls but noticed a scroll that made her eyes widen. "What the… What are those gaki?"

Seeing her gaze, the blonde pocketed them as while Jiraiya told him while it was okay that he told Yugito he didn't want anyone else to know. "Nothing, nee-chan. Why are you here? It's only four." Naruto changed the conversation, signaling it was over.

Not liking that Naruto had promptly put an end to her question, Anko considered torturing it out of the boy only to realize that it wouldn't work as his other mother would get involved. And she didn't want to deal with Kyuubi at the moment. …Or ever really. If any one was more twisted then she was…

Sighing as she looked over at the door, she nodded lightly before a single Anbu entered. "Naruto, Sarutobi ordered that…"

"He wants you to help me keep Kyuubi under control, Yamato." Naruto stated, knowing the man as he had been coming around of lately to make sure that his mother's power was kept in check. He could understand that and even more so as he somehow had the Mokuton(Wood) bloodline.

Seeing Yamato nod his head, Naruto went back to work before pulling out a small piece of paper. "I have plenty of these. They'll suppress mother's power if I have to suppress it."

Frowning as he hadn't known Naruto had those, Yamato shook his head before holding out what seemed to be a wooden bracelet. "Be that as it may, I created this. It will keep her chakra in check as long as you wear it and suppress it as long as it doesn't reach four tails again."

"Why would it be needed?" Naruto asked as he finished his packing and gazed and the wooden bracelet as he still did not like that he had to repress his mother's chakra now. He knew it was needed as her chakra caused him harm now but he still was resistant to the idea.

Slumping forward, Yamato sighed deeply before standing straight and repositioning his mask as it almost fell off. "Unlike the seals, it will be on you and be able to immediately repress her chakra faster then you could place one of those seals. Plus, you can use those to repress higher bursts when you have it on."

Rolling his eyes, Naruto took the bracelet before sliding it on as he had a point even if he didn't want to admit it. His mother's chakra was volatile to at the moment. However, Jiraiya said he was working on a way to undo the effects of the intruding seal and both he and the fox had an idea they had been working on for a while.

"Fine…" A sudden scream caught both of their ears and they ran out into the living room to see Anko rolling on the floor and laughing, neither having noticed she left the room.

The next instant, Yugito burst out of the room with her entire body drenched in water. The unfortunate part for Yamato was that she barely was wearing anything and he happened to be male. He was out cold as blood filled his mask and began suffocating him while Naruto blinked and blinked again before his eyes widened, knowing he had to get out of there.

Woman had a tendency to throw sinks at him when they were exposed in front of him.

* * *

Finally, after a month of further training and testing, the day was upon him and his team. They were heading to the chunin exams held in Cloud. He was quite confident they would do well as he had seen what they were capable of in a very long month, or at least it felt like it.

Gekkou had decided that Miko was indeed ready to enter the exams as after the incident a month ago, she worked with a new vigor. It almost seemed that she had been possessed as she now followed Naruto's training philosophy, keep working till you dropped.

While this had indeed worried all involved, especially Miko's family, they all knew why. Or at least they all thought they did.

The only one that truly knew what was going on in the girl's mind was Mikoto, despite being imprisoned for her attack and illegal transplant on Itachi. The problem was, she wasn't telling which was causing her even more jail time as Itachi had full control on her confinement, the authority given by the Hokage personally.

Still, despite Miko's new work ethics and motivation for them, Hayate felt that she was more then ready. She had a desire to better herself both as a person and a ninja along with helping her teammates so it was a no brainier in his mind.

Hana, in Gekkou's belief, already should have been a chunin. She had the leadership qualities needed and by far had more seasoning then her two teammates and more knowledge of what a ninja was suppose to be.

What she lacked was a firm desire, which the Inuzuka's were known for. He knew the reason well as he arrived at the scene of his previous team's murders with Hana cowering in fear. That left a deep scar on her, one that she still hadn't overcome. It shook her to the very core as she was able to do nothing to help save them.

Despite that lack of will power, she was doing fine. She was confident in her new team and she had really begun to take charge, only yielding every now and then to her teammates, understanding they were more knowledgeable in areas she wasn't. The only trouble she had was corralling Naruto and she still hadn't succeeded in that aspect of being the team leader.

And finally, Naruto. What more could he say about the blonde then his name? The boy was still an absolute enigma to him. The only thing he was sure about was the boy's phenomenal talents. While his skills were still unpolished and somewhat lacking, the boy learned at an extraordinarily quick rate and his abilities…

The boy was far beyond his teammates in that aspect. He was quite sure that Naruto could easily keep his own with a chunin and give a jounin a decent challenge. And that was without Kyuubi. Now he did understand the boy no longer could use the fox's power without horrible repercussions, the fox was still a serious edge.

However, he did have one thing lacking and that was his teamwork. It had improved by leaps and bounds after the incident, especially with Miko, but he still liked to analyze everything and at times, use them as a means to accomplish his goal. However, if it was life or death, the blonde had proven that he would put his life on the line for them.

Seeing the sun rise in the horizon, he couldn't help but smile as he felt a warm pair of arms wrap around his neck before lips gently pressed against his cheek. "I'm going to miss you."

Chuckling softly, Hayate turned to Yugao before wrapping his arms around her and meshing his lips against hers. It seemed like an eternity before they separate and Gekkou spoke. "So will I, but I am their sensei so I have to go with them. Besides, you'll be up there soon enough. Don't forget, you're on the Hokage's security detail now."

Yugao nodded as that was true and she also knew that there was a good chance that his team would make it to the finals. "I know, but I'll still miss you."

"Well, when we see each other again I'll definitely make it worth while." Hayate whispered huskily as he gently kissed her on the cheek before nibbling on her earlobe.

Shivering, Yugao felt like dragging him back to her apartment, which was now their apartment as they both admitted hers was better and had more room for the little one on the way. Not only that, but it was well protected and Yugao wanted to be able to keep an eye on Naruto as he always seemed to get into trouble when Anko and Yugito weren't around.

She also was a little worried about working as was Hayate, but she knew this early on in the pregnancy that it wouldn't affect her performance and vice'a'versa for the baby. Many of the other kunoichi had told her that it was okay to keep working a couple months in and she could continue training for a while after, so she was feeling a little better about the whole situation.

They, however, quickly separated once more as they didn't want to be caught by Miko as she walked up with Itachi, Mikoto and Sasuke with her. Hayate frowned as he noticed Itachi had let Mikoto out to see her daughter off, but understood why. She was still very much their mother and did deserve to wish her girl goodbye, despite what she did to Itachi.

"Morning Miko, you ready for this?" Gekkou asked as she walked over to him, separating herself from her brothers and mother and joined her sensei, looking slightly displeased about something.

Miko simply nodded before sighing as she noticed that she was the only one there. "I am, but I thought you said to be here at six as it is a long journey to the Cloud?"

Gekkou nodded as he indeed said that, but he shrugged his shoulders before answering her question. "I did, but expected everyone to take some time and make sure they had everything in order. It is perfectly alright to be a little late as the exams start in three weeks and it only takes two to get to the Cloud at a slow pace."

Just as he said that, he could see that Hana was walking their direction with her mother, Tsume, and her little brother, Kiba. Smiling at them as they arrived and her family stood by with Miko's, Gekkou actually coughed before shaking his head as Miko glared at him, believing it was another fake cough. "Good, now all we have to do is wait for Naruto."

"Something tells me this will be a long wait then. Kakashi will be escorting Naruto here as Yugito is currently tearing Anko's limbs off one by one." Yugao added, remembering hearing Anko's pained screams earlier in the morning and had to check out what was happening. She quickly left after seeing what happening and seeing Naruto had vanished without a trace.

Itachi blinked as he heard that before sighing. Then his eyes widened as Naruto walked towards the gates with Kakashi and Yugito in tow, the latter dragging a bloodied and beaten Anko behind her.

Now he could have been in shock from seeing his girlfriend was half dead, but that wasn't the case. In fact he half expected that every day with the pranks she pulled on her adopted family and the other jounin. So instead he pointed his finger at Kakashi in shock. "Imposter!"

Kakashi face faulted at the statement and groaned. Couldn't he be early one in a while, just to keep people guessing? "Oh come on! Can't I be somewhat on time once?!"

"No." Everyone outside of Kiba, Hana, Sasuke and Miko stated making the scarecrow slump over before walking away from everyone, grumbling to himself as he leaned against a tree.

Before he could head to his team, Yugito laid her hand on his shoulder and smiled lightly at him. "Naruto, be careful. There will be a lot of ninjas there that don't like Konoha ninja at all, so keep an eye out and put your team safety before anything else, got that?"

Naruto simply nodded as his gaze shifted to her for a moment before looking over towards Hana and Miko. Despite not saying much to them, they were somewhat close to him. They still weren't family, but they were friends and he was beginning to see that it wasn't a bad thing to have friends.

Just before he could go join his team, he was stopped yet again this time by an ailing Anko. "Brat… Look after yourself too. You… ah… What's the word I'm looking for?" She simply couldn't find the words, not being able to say I love you to her adopted son. She couldn't even say those words to Itachi.

Glancing at Anko and despite her appearance, a rare, loving smile grace his lips as he knew what she wanted to say. "I will, nee-chan. Don't kill yourself while I'm away…"

His smile disappeared as he suddenly looked over at Itachi, a frown immediately replacing his smile. "You, keep my nee-chan safe or you will have a long talk with my mother."

Raising his eyebrow, surprised that anyone much less a young boy would threaten him, Itachi shook his head to keep a grin from surfacing. However, he was slight disturbed as he said Kyuubi would be involved… But he tried his best to keep her from harm anyways. "I will, as long as it doesn't involve Yugito."

Nodding as that was acceptable, as he didn't interfere if Anko did something to Yugito either for the sake of his own skin, Naruto turned to the said blonde before reaching out and gripping her hand.

Yugito was completely surprised by this and even more surprised when a slight sting coursed through her hand. Pulling back, she immediately noted there was a complex seal appear briefly before dispersing on the back of her hand that looked very similar to… "Naruto… What did you…?"

"Stay safe… And if they come back, call." Was all Naruto whispered so only she could hear before turning from the other blonde and walked to his team as he pocketed his hands. "So, we ready to go?"

Grinning at the blonde, Gekkou could only shake his head in slight disbelief. He couldn't have heard excitement in the boy's voice, could he? "Well, every thing seems to be in order. Any last goodbyes before we head out?" Hayate asked as he could see everyone wanted to say something.

Of course, Kiba was the first to speak as he jumped up and hugged his sister while Akamaru ran up and ran circles around them, amusing Hana's three. "Kick but sis! I know you can!"

Tsume only chuckled as Hana slipped out of his hugged, shaking her head as Kiba was just that excitable. "Make us proud dear. I would very much love to see you in the flak jacket we made for you."

"I will mom… Wait, you made a chunin jacket? …I'm not even going to ask." Hana grinned as she knew her mother couldn't stitch up small cuts in their clothes.

Rolling her eyes, knowing her daughter was making fun of her; Tsume turned to Naruto and smiled softly. "I'm counting on you to keep her, and Miko safe. …Don't be afraid to reveal your true self if you have to."

Hana frowned as she didn't understand what her mother meant by that as Naruto nodded. Miko, however, simply glanced at the blonde and knew what Tsume was talking of as she now knew of her teammate's burden.

(Flashback)

_The day had been long and dragged out. Hayate had been rather rough during the training, not pulling his punches as much as he normally would. However, she had asked it to be that way as she wanted to get stronger and she couldn't do so if he held back as much._

_Looking over towards her sensei and two teammates, Miko noted that Hayate was somewhat bruised and limping, his right leg being slightly cut up. The cloth on his right arm was completely shredded and his flak jacket was somewhat tattered from the beating he received._

_Hana was literally lying on the ground as her trio of dogs knelt beside her, not looking too much better then her, nudging her and attempting to get her to stand up. After a few moments, they plopped down beside her as they really couldn't get home either without resting._

_She couldn't say she was doing much better. Miko was sitting on the dirt, breathing heavily as she wiped the blood from her lips. Her stomach felt horrible as she had taken a few strong blows there and was ready to throw up._

_However, what she couldn't believe was that Naruto was still standing and to be honestly, he like he was in better condition then everyone there. The only thing wrong with him was slightly bent over to his left, his arm hanging lower then it normally would as it had been dislocated. But that was easily fixed as Hayate walked over and helped him put it back in place._

_Ignoring Naruto's yell of pain as their sensei put his shoulder back into place, Miko frowned. She just couldn't understand it. He was one of the youngest shinobi ever, only her brother and a friend of his Kakashi were the younger when they became shinobi. But from what she was told by her brother that he was even more gifted then they were._

_But how could that be. He had no special gift, no family members with an extraordinary background and no bloodline present to give him an edge. Her brother had all of those things while Kakashi, of what she knew of him, had the first two._

_Now that didn't mean a great ninja couldn't come from humble origins as the Forth was proof of that. He was an orphan of the second Great War and probably one of the best ninja Konoha had seen as were all the Hokages and even the Sannin. While their families are now know thorough the world, it was they that made their families famous in the first place._

_There were just a few things that threw her about Naruto. He seemingly had no end to his stamina and gone for days and his chakra as he continued drawing upon it even when most jounin in the village would pass out from chakra exhaustion._

_Another thing was his amazing ability to detect chakra and instinctively know what was about to happen. While this would point to him having an ability like the Byukugan or Sharingan, he couldn't see the chakra being used and didn't know what exactly what his opponent was trying to do. But it was ridiculous as whenever they tried to put their stealth to the test, he always found them in almost no time._

_Then there was his recovery rate as all his injuries healed within mind boggling rates. Plus if he took a serious shot, the amount of time he needed to recuperate was next to nothing as he could get up from it almost immediately._

_Finally there was his literal transformation when he tried to protect her family from Shusui. He was literally bathed in red chakra that took the form of a fox and was had no control over his own mind except when her big brother came and somehow suppressed the red chakra. Then there was what her mother said…_

_All of these things left her wondering what Naruto was and how he could do all of these things. So finally after getting tired of it frustrating her till no end, she decided to ask him._

_Miko noted that Hayate and Hana were gone, more then likely he went to take her home as she wasn't in the shape to go back herself. Feeling okay with that as she felt good enough to get back, she struggled to her feet before almost tripping over as Naruto was besides her. "Need help?"_

_It was indeed a rare thing to see the blonde asking to help someone so Miko almost flipped out and fell. Luckily, she managed to maintain her balance and keep on her feet. "Yeah… I'm not sure I can get back home on my own."_

_Understanding as he felt somewhat tired and didn't really like the feeling, Naruto stood beside her and gave her his shoulder to lean on so it would be easier to walk._

_After a few moments of no talking as last time he came with her back to her house the murder of her clan happened, Miko sighed as the district came into view. "Naruto… can we stop for a moment? There is something I have to ask you and no one else will explain it to me."_

_Watching him tilt his head after he let her lean against a house to keep upright, Miko kept her girlish side in check as she just wanted to scream 'Kawaii' and hug him as he looked so darn cute like that. She didn't understand why she thought, but she did and she really was questioning if her mind shattered._

_Shaking her head, getting that weird thought out of her head, she was about to speak when Naruto suddenly beat her to it. "I think I know what it is you want to know… Is it about what happened that day?"_

_Miko nodded as she really didn't want to bring anything up about that day but that was killing her. "Yes… that is one thing I'm confused about. I also have a few other questions."_

_Nodding as he expected that, Naruto pocketed his hands, looked her in the eyes before immediately speaking. "What you saw that night was my mother's power… My tenant to be exact. I am the one that Kyuubi was sealed into so the village could be spared."_

_Of all things, that was not what Miko was expecting. She expected to hear something more like he had two different bloodlines from parents of other nations or something like that. To hear he was the harboring the demon that killed so many of Konoha's ninjas eight years before was startling and she simply didn't understand how._

_Having caught the conversation as he was nearby, Itachi suddenly spoke as he dropped down from the house from below. "Miko, to explain what Naruto is saying, he is only the vessel of the demon and keeps it from being released. They are two different entities entirely; however he may draw upon its power in tight spots."_

_Surprised at her brother's sudden appearance while Naruto didn't look a bit shocked, Miko took a few moments to respond. "I think I understand, it is kind of like a storage seal with weapons inside it. Inside their harmless but once out they can be deadly. So Kyuubi can't attack without it being summoned by Naruto?"_

_"Um… Sure. It is just a much stronger seal." Naruto responded as Itachi grimaced knowing that Kyuubi could become free whenever she pleased. She simply stays sealed as it would benefit Naruto more to help him from within._

_Feeling less shocked then before, Miko was about to speak again when Itachi stopped her. "That's enough for now. You can ask him questions later. We're going to see kaa-san."_

_Frowning for a moment, she nodded and turned to say goodbye only to see Naruto had vanished without a trace. "Whoa! What the… Where'd he go?!"_

_"Probably to meet Jiraiya and train." Itachi answered as he knew that was exactly where the blonde went to as he had been training with him almost every single day since he arrived. "Let's go Miko. We still have to pick up Sasuke from the academy."_

(Flashback End)

Almost not hearing her little brother speaking, Miko shook her head as she accepted Sasuke's hug. "I'll miss you nii-chan… Don't stay away for too long."

Smiling at her little brother, Miko sighed as she roughed up his hair a little as they separated. "Don't worry squirt, I'll be gone for a little while. And mom should be coming home soon…"

Itachi simply frowned at her as she was putting a lot of pressure on him. He did want to let his mother out too, but the problem was she wasn't cooperating. Yes, he was slightly irritated that she wouldn't explain what was going on with Miko, as she only talked to her about what she was thinking about, but that wasn't the real reason he kept her imprisoned.

Mikoto refused to speak of the reason why she gave him his father's eyes. If she would just tell him, he would let her out. It didn't help him any that he couldn't remember what happened moments before she drugged him.

Tensing as she knew what Miko was planning as she also knew of her disobedience; Mikoto frowned at her as wasn't going to tell Itachi until the time was right. She knew Sasuke missed her dearly and she wanted nothing more then to be with him again, she wanted to carry out her husband's final wish.

However, she quickly turned towards Yugito and frowned. What she had seen Naruto do seemed familiar. It seemed like something Minato had done time and time again when he placed a marker so he could flicker to it to help someone in need or to help defend the village.

Her entire body froze as she momentarily activated her Sharingan, catching Itachi's attention as she strictly forbade her to use chakra, to see what Naruto had done. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the seal as her eyes faded back to normal. "No… It can't be."

While mostly everyone was trying to figure out what she meant by that, both Naruto and Yugito tensed as it seemed Mikoto knew of the seal and its function. Itachi, frowning, activated his Sharingan to see the seal before raising his eyebrow as the seal was very complex and something he found he couldn't copy, strangely enough.

"Uh, Miko, I have something for you." Mikoto suddenly spoke before ushering her daughter away from the group for a moment before tapping her left wrist, revealing a storage scroll and a small and very odd kunai appeared. "Take this… If you ever feel in danger, throw it into the ground."

"But mom…"

Miko tried to start when Mikoto simply shook her head. "Don't argue with me and don't use it for anything else. Just do it when you feel you're in grave danger. …A knight in dark armor might come to save you in a flash."

At the end, Miko frowned as her mother winked right as she pocketed the kunai. She didn't understand what her mother meant by that, but something told her that this had to deal with Naruto. Just from the way she reacted from looking at Yugito's hand to the way she was acting now was enough proof. "Okay… I got to go."

"Good luck dear and stay safe." Mikoto waved as her daughter joined her team, Naruto simply looking at her as he had felt the kunai's presence and knew that the one she gave her was one the Forth created.

Nodding as they were all there, Hayate motioned for them to head out and took the lead. "Let's go! We've got a long journey."

After a few minutes and they almost out of sight, Mikoto sighed as Itachi walked over to her knowing he was going to take her back to her cell. "Alright, let's go back…"

"No… There is no need now. …I'll explain everything to you now." Mikoto responded as she noted that Sasuke was with him and frowned. "Um, Kakashi! Can you take Sasuke home and watch over him for a bit? I need to talk with Itachi about something private."

Seeing that everyone else was slowly leaving as the gennin and their sensei were now out of sight, Kakashi nodded before walking over. "Sure. I'm not on duty until tonight anyways. Let's go Sasuke, we might stop and get something to eat along the way."

Sasuke was somewhat reluctant at first, but nodded as his stomach growled. No one had made breakfast and he was really hungry. Plus, his brother seemed to approve as well so he couldn't be a bad person.

Watching as Sasuke went with Kakashi, Itachi slowly turned to his mother before his Sharingan activated. "Alright, what is this about? You haven't been willing to tell me anything and not even threatening you with Ibiki did anything. So why now will you tell me anything?"

"Well first off, Ibiki isn't useful unless you bring him in. If you did that, I might have broke as I know what that man can do." Mikoto explained as she pointed out her son's error which only seemed to make him mad as she was trying to be funny at an inappropriate time.

Mikoto only smiled and shook her head as she easily looked him in the eyes. "I feel that a burden has been lifted off of me, that is all. Now that I see that the flash is back, I'm not worried as much as our families' burden is less of a threat."

"The flash is back… What does that even mean? The only flash I know of is… The Forth. Explain now?!" Itachi suddenly caught where his mother had led him and he knew exactly what she was talking about now.

Making sure no one was listening in on them or watching, Mikoto tilted her head towards the gate. "Naruto. …He knows it, I'm sure of it. That seal he place on Yugito's hand is proof… You tried copying it and failed, didn't you?"

Looking at her for a moment, Itachi's eyes widened at the thought the blonde knew of such a technique. Now his threat actually caused fear as if he could use that… He would be screwed. "Well, that explains why I couldn't copy it. There must be some sort of seal on it to keep me from doing so."

"There is, I helped add a forbidden seal of our clan's that negates our Sharingan's coping. …I did that because we were going out at the time." Mikoto responded as she knew the seal well, having been one of Minato's girlfriends before he finally fell for Kushina. And knowing what she did, she wished more that she had ended up with him…

Shaking those thoughts from her head, Mikoto sighed as her demeanor softened and she seemed more subdued. "Itachi… I can tell you why I gave you the eyes now… Because now… You don't have to face him alone."

Before Itachi could respond, Mikoto cut him off. "Uchiha Madara is still alive and he wants to destroy not only our clan but this village. We must not let him under any circumstances… You know of our family's dark past and we mustn't let another chapter be added to it. I gave you those eyes so you can meet him in battle and have a chance."

Being momentarily stunned by what his mother had said, Itachi recovered quickly and kept his composure. "Why couldn't you have told me this before? It is hard to believe he is still alive, but I've seen people live longer lives. If it was a matter of security, the Hokage needs to know…"

"Because he is our clan's mistake. We are the reason for his hatred as we saw the First as a better choice for a leader then he would be. Despite all he did for us, we turned our backs on him. …So it is only fitting that we take care of the problem we created. …Do not get the Hokage involved in this. Not yet. He may not be needed." Mikoto explained before she looked at Itachi with pleading eyes.

Frowning, Itachi sighed as he rubbed his temple for a moment. "I'll think about it. But for now, you still have to go back. I'll let you out soon, but not right now. I hope you understand"

Mikoto simply nodded as she knew why. "It's okay… Just tell Sasuke I'll be home soon. …And Miko stole some of you pocky collection."

"I will." Itachi said before he caught what his mother said at the end. "WHAT?!"

* * *

"For the love of my mother, why in the hell is a village on top of this God forsaken mountain?!" Naruto yelled out in frustration as they continued their climb of the mountain, almost reaching the top as the village walls were in sight.

Never hearing that much emotion out of Naruto before, his sensei along with his two teammates nearly lost their balance and fell off the monster mountain.

Regaining their balance, still looking at Naruto with wide eyes, Hayate was the first to reach the gate. There were two guards standing at the gates, as if waiting for them. "Ah, finally… Another team. There has barely been any to arrive so far. …Dammit, duty first, paper please?"

Hayate nodded and dug around in his pouch for a moment before handing them over. "Ah, here they are. We'll be the only team representing Konoha for these exams."

Nodding as he looked over the papers carefully, having his partner double check, he handed them back to Hayate. "Everything seems to be in order. Most of the hotels are on the east side of town and the restaurants are in the center. If you get lost just asked anyone, everyone in the village is a ninja and they'll point you in the right direction."

"Have a nice day!" The guy chirped, making Naruto simply look at him with a twitching brow as he was even more upset that he now had to see someone overly happy after a murderous climb.

Grinning as he could see Naruto's annoyance as they went in, glad the boy was showing some emotion, Hayate stopped before checking their money. "Alright, we're good. I'll go get us the rooms while you three find a good restaurant. …No ramen." He added on the end just to see if he could get a rise out of Naruto.

And he did when Naruto flicked him off as he kept from spouting off and ripping off his sensei's jaw. They had only stopped at two food stops on the entire trip and neither served ramen. He was starved for it as he didn't bring many cups or packets with him.

Shaking her head as Hayate flickered off to get them a room, Hana stretched out and grinned. "Alright, we'll look for something that has ramen for Naruto. Miko, have any preferences as I don't care. I'll eat anything right now. I'm tired of eating from the wild."

Biting into a stick of pocky, Miko blinked before grinning. Oh, she knew her brother wouldn't be happy when he noticed she found his stack of snack treats. "It doesn't really matter to me either. …As long as it is real food, I don't care. Anything is better then the stuff we've had been eating."

"He can't cook." Was all that Naruto added as he suddenly pulled out some of the food Hayate cooked the night before and handed it to one of Hana's trio, who simply turned its nose from the food. "Not even a dog will eat it…"

"Hey! How many times do I have to say…? Wow, that is really bad cooking. He'll eat almost anything." Hana started out mad before looking down and noticing one of her three had indeed turned its nose.

Miko could only laugh as she scratched the said dog behind the nose. "That just makes me wonder… Hasn't he said he's been cooking for his fiancée?"

"Wife now, and yes he has." Naruto responded as he knew they were married as Anko was Yugao's maid of honor. "However, Yugao has been coming over and eating with me as my ramen taste better then his cooking."

"Is it just me or is your diet mostly of ramen?" Miko asked as they entered the center of the village, not taking very long as the village wasn't too horrible large as it was on the top of a mountain.

Naruto simply shrugged as he really wasn't going to give her an answer. Sure, ramen was one of his favorite foods but he didn't eat it all the time. Just for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He didn't eat it when he was having brunch, his two o'clock or his midnight snack… Half of the time.

Finding a place that was suitable, Hana led the three into the restaurant before her entire body froze and fear began setting in. Six Iwa gennin sat at the bar and she recognized all three of them, but more importantly the one wearing the samurai-like armor with his face covered.

"It can be… He still can't be a gennin…" Hana muttered aloud in her terrified state before completely freezing as the shinobi turned and spotted her while her three partners began growling and put themselves in front of her. "We have to leave… Now… I can't…"

He could almost smell the fear coming from Hana and he could see where it was directed. While Hana had never told them that her previous team had been killed in the last chunin exam, Naruto learned the full story through Yugao as he had to know.

Immediately he walked forward, passed Hana, who looked on in horror, as Miko was trying to calm their team captain down. "Hana, what's wrong? …Wait, Iwa gennin… Are they the ones that…?"

Hana only nodded as Miko trailed off and her entire body shook as Naruto was already besides them and had taken a seat, knowing the risk of what he was about to do. It was still worth it. "Barkeep, get a drink to the armored fool there. I'll pay for it."

Now both girls knew that Naruto had gall before this, however, they were completely stunned at what Naruto was doing. Did he not put connect the dots and figure out who they were?

"What is he doing? Naruto!" Miko hissed as she ran over to him, however was only pushed aside as Naruto looked at her and only nodded. He had a plan… But what the hell was it? And why was he even trying anything?!

The said Iwa gennin frowned as he looked over at the young boy before grinning under his mask. "Oh, so a little kid is entering the exam? Oh look out, Konoha has another Hatake Kakashi!"

As all the other Rock ninja laughed, Naruto only grinned as his vicious nature began to take over. This immediately caught the pack leader's attention and made him frown further. "What good will buying me a drink do you boy? I'll do the same thing as I did to the bitch's last team as if you didn't notice, we are from the Rock."

Hearing the sarcasm in the voice, Naruto closed his eyes as Hana looked even more terrified seeing what Naruto was doing. "I'm buying it for you out of courtesy. After all, the soon to be deceased should at least get a last meal. That is what my adoptive mother tells me… However, my true mother just wants to rip your throat out as do I."

Immediately the stool that the Iwa gennin that was offended was sitting on was thrown on the ground as white chakra with a tint of blue began to surround him. "What was that boy? Do you really think you stand a chance against a demon vessel like me?! Do you?!"

"Is that all your pitiful demon has?" Naruto simply asked as he slid off his seat, knowing what he had said would offend him and right on cue he was ready to pounce.

Naruto slid his bracelet off and turned to him and his eyes flashed red and his pupils dilated before red chakra began surrounding him, blood slowly beginning to leak from his pores. "Oh, the dog wants to fight the fox? Where's the cat, oh right… She's with me now. I guess you have no back up this time."

It was clear to all that heard him speak that there was two voices speaking, one of which was a matured eight year old boy. The other was harder to tell but still easily decipherable, it was of a furious woman. This threw off almost everyone one except for the Iwa vessel and Miko, knowing what Naruto was.

His demon's flow of chakra immediately stopped and he growled as he tried to summon it forth once again only to get a message in response. He instantly calmed before he looked down at Naruto. "I see… This will be interesting now. One that can finally give me a decent fight and show off my chunin qualities."

Unable to call back his mother's chakra, Naruto grinned demonically as his eyes literally began to glow pure crimson. "I don't think so… Because I will kill you before this is all over."

This time, however, there was only one voice and it did not belong to Naruto. It was Kyuubi that was speaking, using her vessel to give her message to the young man, letting him know his time had drawn short.

But before she could make do on her promise, Naruto regained full control of his body and slipped Yamato's bracelet on just as Anbu began to arrive on the scene, checking what was going on. Also with them was Hayate, who was looking straight at Naruto. "Naruto what the hell is going on…?"

"Nothing that concerns any of you." Naruto stated as he moved by them all, not planning on staying there a moment longer.

His mother's message was delivered. No one fucks with his family.

* * *

**A/N**: Here is a delayed update of Way of the Jinchuuriki. To make this worse for all of my readers, I cut this chapter in half. There is another portion that I had started on but decided to make it into a chapter on its own as this took on its own life and became longer then I expected. Seriously, I planned for this part, which was only two sentences of planning, to be two thousand tops and it becomes nearly five times that.

Anyways, other then that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If there is anything you want to say or ask, just leave a review like always. Peace Out.


	10. I Will Kill You

_"LADY KUSHINA! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?" Kakashi yelled out as his sensei's wife jumped away from the crib, Kakashi standing between her and the young child in the crib._

_Looking at her husband's pupil, the red head closed her eyes and sighed as the blade in her hand glistened in the moonlight. "Stand aside Kakashi. I'm going to put an end to this."_

_Horrified at her response, Kakashi's entire body trembled as he wasn't entirely sure what to do now. "You don't mean... You don't think that Naruto is a demon...?"_

_"Don't group me with those ignorant bastards!" Kushina screamed right back, her red eyes burning heatedly at Kakashi's accusation._

_Pausing for a moment as she let her anger subside after closing her eyes for a moment. "I know he isn't a demon! He, however, is no longer my son as an infant cannot contend with a bijuu's will. If we let him grow, he'll simply become the demon's puppet as all jinchuuriki that have their demon sealed into them at a young age."_

_"That is something I won't let my son live through. ...I am letting him go peacefully, so his father may hold him in the afterlife." Kushina finished as she looked down, blocking Kakashi's view of her eyes._

_Taking a moment to digest what she had said Kakashi simply looked back at the young child in the crib. Smiling as he cooed softly as he had just woken, probably from the noise just around them, the scarecrow turned to face Kushina. "Even if there is some truth to that, it takes years of manipulation along with the hatred of those around them that cracks their wills, allowing them to give into their demon's will."_

_"And you are forgetting one thing... Master believed that Naruto would be able to withstand all the temptations and mistreatment and one day, control the fox. I won't rest until I see my sensei's final dream fulfilled so I'll be damned if you'll harm a hair on his head." Kakashi countered as he revealed his Sharingan eye, the one he had received from his fallen teammate, Obito._

_Kushina's eyes only narrowed as the grip of her blade tightened. "I'd like to see you try and stop me."_

"Captain!" Brought Kakashi out of memory lane and back into the real world as his fellow subordinates stood near him, helping a young blonde in her teens up to her feet.

"Should we call it a day?" Yugao asked, being the one that had broken Kakashi out of memory lane.

"No!" Yugito suddenly stated as she pushed away the two Anbu helping her up. "I'm still have a little more left, so let's go!"

Looking into her eyes, Kakashi simply nodded as he readjusted his head band to reveal his Sharingan once more. "If you wish but I won't hold back."

"But Captain..." Genma, another of Kakashi's subordinates, started only to stop as Kakashi gave him one glance. He knew better then to speak again. It seemed his captain was in one of those moods...

Not sure what was going on as Kakashi and Yugito began to spar, Kakashi easily handled anything Yugito threw due to her fatigue, his experience and just overall skills, Genma turned to Yugao for an explanation.

Sighing as some of the other Anbu with the unit listened in, a few not understanding why they had been delegated such a task, Yugao shook her head and kept her eyes on Yugito. "We're training her to her fullest extent so she can join the hunter division..."

"Yeah, I get that..." Genma started but backed off as Yugao glared at him and growled.

"Let me finish."

Wisely backing off, not wanting to piss of the pregnant women, Genma listened as Yugao spoke once more. "However, I am sure all of you remember who Naruto's first assassin was. ...The thing is, not many know is that she was his own mother... Yugito has just learned that."

As the rest of the unit looked surprised at that information, Yugao looked into Yugito's eyes and saw the fire burn within them despite blow after blow she received. "And it seems that her father did something very similar to her, so this has hit home... But there is something even more important then that we are doing here."

Just as she said that, she side stepped as Yugito came flying through and tumbled against the earth and finally came to a stop. She didn't move an inch as Kakashi walked over and checked her pulse before motioning two of them to help her up.

However, as the two did, Kakashi spoke having heard Yugao's explanation. "We are training her to become the first member of the Akatsuki extermination unit along with me, Anko, Itachi and finally..."

As he stopped, even Yugao looked at him somewhat funny before Itachi, having asked for this assignment, dropped down from the trees above and finished for him, knowing who the last member would be when the time was right. "And finally the new Yellow Flash of Konoha."

* * *

It was early in the morning, the day the first exam would begin. They were given a warning after what happened yesterday between Naruto and the Iwa jinchuuriki but it seemed the blonde had not really cared. In fact, he seemed poised to keep his promise as they arrived at the spot of the first exam.

The reason Hayate was pretty sure of this as Naruto was not in his room nor was he with Hana and Miko, who were waiting for him so they could head to where the messenger had told them they needed to be. Coming out of his room, he grimaced as he looked at the two girls, who were pissed. "Um... He's not in his room."

Both Hana's and Miko's faces fell at this before they looked at each other with wide eyes, Miko being the first to speak. "You don't think... He'd do what he said yesterday."

Hana didn't answer as she burst out the front door and began to scan the area, in hopes of finding Naruto. Just as she was about to jump down, seeing no trace of him, all three of her dogs barked making her nearly trip over her own feet before grumbling. "He's here... He's just on the roof."

As a bead of sweat fell from Miko's head, Gekkou's jaw slackened as he exited and looked up on the roof. Sure enough, Naruto was sitting on the roof with his eyes closed as if he was meditating. But what disturbed him was that he still couldn't feel his presence despite being right in front of him. How this was possible, he wasn't sure but it left him flabbergasted that such a young boy could fool even his senses.

Being the last one to exit the hotel, Miko closed the door before turning her head to Naruto. "Hey, it's time to go! I don't want to be stuck as gennin forever!"

At first it was as if Naruto was ignoring her and this irritating. But before she went up to grab him and drag him down, Hana stopped her as she had her head tilted towards him. She knew Naruto had heard Miko, but she knew what he was doing so it would take a moment for him to respond and end the exercise.

Just as she thought, Naruto's eyes opened before he slowly stood up with a little tremor in his legs. Jumping down beside them, a thin layer of sweat covered his body as he breathed heavily before wiping his brow. "Sorry... I was in deep meditation. ...It took a moment to come back."

As both his female students gave him a nod for that, Hayate only frowned. Even if he was in a deep meditation, he should not have exerted that much effort as it was meant to calm one's inner spirit...

Hayate nodded as well, realizing that his inner spirit wasn't that easily tamed. After all, she must be a handful. "Alright then, they've given us new directions. Apparently since there were so few competitors that came here, they have skipped the first test and are going straight to the second."

"So where is the exam going to be held now?" Hana commented as she and the rest of her team followed their sensei.

Pointing towards a taller mountain that seemed just outside the village, Hayate faked a cough before sighing. "It is going to happen there. It is a lot like our training ground forty-four and is often used in their second test in the exams. And just like with our training grounds, it has a very chilling name... Murder Peak."

"So I assume there has been a few fatalities there at the least. And if it is like the Forest of Death, it is easily concluded that their test will probably be similar to ours." Naruto responded, being pretty sure that if it had a name like the Forest of Death, it would actually live up to its reputation.

Nodding as it was true, Gekkou noticed both Hana and Miko flinch. Not that he could blame them, but they had signed up for this and he believed they were ready. "They at least have around ten but no less then a couple die every year they hold the exams here and yes; it is similar but by no means is it easy."

After a few minutes of silence and as the neared the mountain, Hayate stopped. "This is as far as I go. The rest is up to you three."

As all three stopped in front of him, looking back at him, he smiled before faking yet another cough. "Remember, not only do I believe in all of you, but so does your family and the village. You are representing Konoha here, so be proud and hold your head high. You three have are very talented and some of the best of our village, so remember that when the trial begins and you will be fine."

"Take care of each other." Hayate finally ended as he waved them on, knowing there wasn't much time left until the deadline for them to get there.

Still nervous, well at least both Hana and Miko were as Naruto showed nothing, the three nodded and made their way to where the rest of the teams were. Glancing over them, there was only ten teams overall and that was including them.

This made Naruto frown as if this was anything like the test Anko was the proctor of, then this test was designed to get rid of at least two-thirds of what was left. Plus there happened to be no allied nations to Konoha present. There was three teams from the Cloud, two from the Rock and one of each for the Mist, Grass, Rain and Sun.

While the Cloud and Sun were neutral with Konoha the rest either had grudges against them or just didn't like anyone, the case for the Mist. That did not bode well for them if they happened to target them or even worse, align with each other to take them out.

Knowing he would have to be careful and even unleash Kyuubi, Hiraishin or his newest technique, Naruto followed Hana as he continued to examine everyone to gage how strong each was. This wasn't difficult thanks to his ability to sense chakra at such an extreme extent.

There was only one real threat to him, not that there was every any doubt in that, but for Hana and Miko there at least felt like a few that could take them out rather quickly. The problem was they all happened to either be on one of the Rock and Cloud squads. The Mist team was good enough to maybe take them out, but it would take a lot of work.

Standing in front of all the teams, a lone cloud shinobi towered over them with dark skin and ripped with muscles shook his head. He wished he did not have to be here for this, rather be working on his taijutsu and making sure his brother was okay, but the Raikage assigned him this job. "Alright punks, listen up and shut your traps!"

Everyone seemed to stand at attention after this guy had spoke. Even Naruto as he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he sensed the amount of chakra this guy possessed. It was as if this guy had more chakra then even some bijuu possessed.

Glad that everyone was listening, even the two trouble makers from the day before, the Cloud jounin spoke. "Good, my name is E and I will be your instructor for this entire exam. If you forget my name, you'll become my new punching bag for the week or until every bone in your body is broken."

"We have forgone the written portion of the exams due to the lack of arrivals and so we'll have enough of you left for the final portion of the exam. So now we will move to this portion of the exam, the survival portion." E commented, explaining why they had skipped the first portion of the exam.

"This place is known as Murder Peak for those of you that don't know and you will be climbing this mountain. At the top there are five scrolls, meaning at least five of your teams will be sent home after this exam is completed. You may only take one from the top of the mountain and there is no fighting allowed at the Peak, but you are able to take the other scrolls from other teams if you wish on the descent back to your gate."

"Anything is legal as this is a live battle situation. You may kill if you deem it necessary to survive and if one of your team members is killed or physically unable to continue, the other two are automatically disqualified. This is a team exercise, so all three must come back in one piece. And one final thing... You have thirty-two hours to complete this portion of the exam." E delivered the rules, somewhat bored as he really had nothing else to because of this.

Seeing that no one was arguing his rules, probably because he was one of the most intimidating people he knew, E sighed once more before shaking his head once more as he pulled out a box with a hole in the top. "There are ten gates set up here so I'll just randomly give each of you one."

After pulling out each team a gate number, Naruto's team getting gate twenty-one, E spoke once more as he was ready to get this over with. "Now before you head to your gates, I will warn each and every one of you. While anything is allowed on the mountain, there is one thing you must know... At certain points all over the mountain, there are seals set up to negate the use of chakra to stick to it meaning if you fall... You will more then likely die. Now head to your gates. This portion of the exam will begin in five minutes."

Narrowing his eyes at that, beginning to understand why the mountain got its name, Naruto knew he would have to set up Hiraishin seals for safety measures. Following his team to the gate, he made a few last second preparations in his pouch, making sure a few certain kunais were free for quick access.

Arriving at their gate, Hana was glad as it seemed that the Iwa vessel was on the other side of the mountain. That made her feel a little better, but if they ran into each other at the top of the gate there was a good possibility that he could follow them...

Grimacing at that thought, she almost jumped as Miko placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry too much about him, Hana. We'll be fine and even if we run into him, he better watch out. An Uchiha is always dangerous to fight, even if he happens to be a demon vessel."

Naruto grunted, somewhat displeased by Miko's attitude, but he understood what she was trying to belay to their team leader. She was scared of that one and Miko was trying to boost her confidence. And Miko really wasn't looking forward to meeting him either, but she knew there they could stand up to him this time.

After all, nine tails were better then five.

* * *

Almost half a dozen hours into the climb, all three were keeping kunais in hand as they carefully moved up the mountain. They had hit a few of the zones were they could not climb with chakra and had slipped and fallen. Thankfully, they easily were able to recover as they had only hit the outer rim of the zones.

"Okay, whoever decided to use these seals in a chunin exam should be executed. These are meant to keep ninja from easily scaling walls in war time, not to impede gennin." Miko growled out as she slipped and stuck her kunai in to mountain side and began her ascent upwards.

Following her example as they used their kunais to pull themselves up the mountain, Naruto stalling for a moment as he touch the rocks and left a small seal before it disappeared, Hana groaned as this was taking a lot more effort then she thought it was. "I have to hand it to them... This is a survival test. We haven't ran into anyone and I'm already struggling."

Getting somewhat annoyed by their complaining, Naruto was ready to snap at them. He normally didn't get angered, but someone complaining over and over again was one of the few things that could get him to go off. He just didn't like it when someone complained as he took it personally when one did as they had no right to complain as they didn't have to deal with half of what he did through his life.

Testing to see if it was possible to start using their feet once more ever few feet as they climb, they slowly moved up the mountain until they made it to a small ledge before Hana spoke tiredly, the mountain clearly wearing her down. "Let's take a small break. We've still got plenty of time and we're already made it up at least a third up."

Getting no argument, mainly because Naruto could see that they were both drained and even he was to an extent, Hana leaned up against the rocky edge before closing her eyes. She was upset that she had to leave her partners at the base of the mountain as they couldn't climb with them but there wasn't much of a choice.

"We'll rest here for a few hours while we regain our strength. But stay alert as someone might try and ambush us while we recover. If you have a soldier pill, keep it ready as our chakra reserves will deplete on the way up." Hana stated as she closed her eyes as she rather rely on her sense of hearing and smell to tell if someone was coming.

As Miko nodded, keeping a firm eye on things, Naruto followed Hana's example and seated himself against the rough terrain and closed his eyes. He began to suppress his own chakra, forcing the flow to slow. It would normally take a long time due to the amount of chakra he possessed, but because he was working on that this morning, it went a little easier.

While it did hide his presence to others, there was another reason he did this. When he did this, he was able to detect chakra to a much higher degree then he normally could. It was as if his range was extended far beyond that of what he could feel when he was actively using his chakra.

He had began working on it while he was battling, but there was a few problems. His strength and speed were slower then when he wasn't suppressing his chakra yet there was an advantage. He could tell what his opponent was about to do just from the influxes of their chakra and prepare for it and possibly counter.

Feeling the chakra of everyone on the mountain, Naruto began relaying the positions of those he could sense. "The closest team to us is approximately a hundred meters above us on the right hand side. I cannot tell whether or not if they are ascending, descending or resting like we are as they are barely moving."

Hearing this, Hana's head snapped over in that direction and opened her eyes but could not see anyone in that direction. Despite that, she did not doubt that Naruto's word as she knew how accurate his chakra detection was. "Keep an eye on them and alert us if they move in our direction. ...Can you tell which team they are?"

Focusing on them exclusively, it took Naruto a few moments to recognize the signatures and match them to the ones he felt when they were all gathered at the base of the mountain. "It is the other team from Iwa. I remember them because of the girl had the strongest signature on her team and one I deemed a threat."

Miko frowned hearing that Naruto had deemed her a threat. She had seriously doubted that there was anyone here outside of the other demon vessel that could push Naruto so she could not have been a threat to him. So when he said he had deemed her dangerous, he meant she was dangerous enough to take one of them out.

Hana didn't like what Naruto had said either, knowing the strength of her team. Well, almost knowing it. Naruto was still a bit of a mystery as she couldn't get a proper gage on him outside of his abilities. And in terms of individual strength, whether she liked it or not, Naruto was the strongest while she Miko were rather well matched.

Closing her eyes once more, she focused took a deep breath and tried to relax. Keeping her guard up made that rather difficult but now knowing there was an Iwa team close by, she was rather nervous as she knew their villages didn't like one another and whenever their ninja got together, bad things seemed to happen.

Calming down as a little time passed by and she heard nothing from Miko or Naruto, she sighed in relief. She was just a little high strung. They probably didn't even know they were there...

"Their moving... I can't get a good lock, but it seems they are moving..." Hana heard Naruto before drowning him out as another sound caught her attention. It sounded like a roar at first, but it become more and more distinct as it came closer...

"MOVE! THEY CAUSED A ROCK SLIDE!"

Miko immediately jumped up and noticed rocks and boulders tumbling down towards them. Using a jutsu her brother had taught her, Miko formed a barrier wall out of the rocks and dirt as she hoped it would shield them from the debris.

Hana and Naruto quickly moved underneath it, as the small rocks began colliding with the wall, each hit making more and more of it crumble to dust. But then some of the bigger boulders came in, ripping through it like it like tissue paper. The first few were taken care of by Hana, using her piercing fang to reduce them to rubble.

But as soon as she had taken those out, one collided into her as she stopped spinning, forcing Naruto to dive and catch her. Gritting his teeth, he immediately righted himself and drove his feet into the mountain side, slowing their fall before Hana recovered enough to drive a kunai into the mountain side.

As their fall slowly grounded to a halt, Hana immediately looked up to see what happened to Miko. "Shit! They've got here! We've got to get up there now!"

Thinking for only a moment, Naruto suddenly grabbed and held her out. Ignoring her sudden scream, Naruto lifted her as he took his aim and with one chakra enhanced shove, he threw her up towards them. Jumping up, landing on the kunai with one foot, Naruto focused chakra into that said leg before launching himself up.

Miko had no time to watch them to see if they made it out as she dove out of the way of one last boulder, letting a few of the smaller ones pelt her instead. Gritting her teeth, ignoring the pain the gashes they had caused, Miko tried to get back to her feet when she suddenly was forced into the ground as someone stomped on her skull.

"What do we have here? The little Konoha brats." A female rock ninja grinned as she kept the black haired girl's head pinned to the ground. "What should we do with her boys?"

Miko suddenly felt terrified as she could see the lecherous looks on the two guys' faces. Did she actually plan on letting them do that to her?

"Oh hell no! I'm a woman to guys so you aren't doing that with me around. And don't even think of involving me in your little sick plans. My boyfriend would rip your heads off in a second if you even thought about it." The Iwa kunoichi responded disgusted where her fellow comrades' minds went after she said that.

Despite feeling better that the girl wasn't going to let the guys 'have their fun', Miko attempted to struggle so she could get free and fight. But immediately she stopped and screamed out in pain as her fellow kunoichi drove her head further into the ground. "Hey! Don't try and struggle as I can finish you any time I want. Besides, I just did you a favor..."

"TSUGA!" Hana yelled out as she suddenly rose from the depths and began spinning before rapidly and flew towards them.

The sudden attack forced each of them jumped out of Hana's way, not wanting to get caught by such an attack at this altitude. One in fact trip and fell off the side, yet he easily clung onto the ledge and pulled himself back up just as Hana stopped and stood before Miko, growling with a kunai in hand.

"That was unexpected, but we won't be fooled by that twice." The girl grinned as she prepared a jutsu, knowing that the other would be coming up soon.

Just as she predicted she turned and was ready to attack before he eyes widened as Naruto appeared with his hands in the tiger seal, directing his attack straight at her. "Katon: Gokakyu!"

Cursing as she wasn't able to use her jutsu that fast, she burrowed into the mountain side before the flames reached her. Landing where she was, Naruto immediately drew his katana, ready to strike.

Rising from the ground, next to her two teammates, the Iwa kunoichi frowned as she recognized the boy from the day before. There was little doubt he had skill as he didn't fear her boyfriend in the slightest, something most skilled ninja had a difficult time pulling off.

"Rondo, Lao. Be careful, Konoha ninja are always more dangerous when they're together. So let's split them up. ...But try and remember to leave the pipsqueak alive. My boyfriend wants to take his head for his own." She commanded before she reached to the earth, the dirt and rocks slowly flowing to her hands and formed two gauntlets.

"Consider it done, Lady Psiren." They both said simultaneously, making them seem more like twins by the moment. It wasn't helping the two looked very much alike.

The two sprung towards the boy, knowing their boss could handle the two girls on her own. After all, she was only a gennin just to go to chunin exams and impress the potential clients to go to the Rock. But as they were upon him, they suddenly slackened before they hit the ground, gasping.

Naruto hadn't paid attention to what they had said in the slightest. He had closed his eyes and focused on nothing more then suppressing his chakra and reading theirs, waiting to see what they would do.

Just as he felt before, the girl had a much higher concentration of chakra and it flowed more smoothly then either of the boys. There was no doubt that she was held back just to give them more clients, taking advantage of the more jobs being out there thanks to Konoha's lost in business.

Suddenly, he noticed an influx in Lao and Rondo and could see their chakra rise and coast towards him. Following that, making sure he knew their trajectory, shifted his blade ever so slightly and slashed twice at the spots he knew they would be.

Psiren took a step back, having just seen the slashes before they had sliced into their and through their collar bones. No, not their collar bones. It seemed his aim was off a little and had only hit their shoulders, making the blows he had landed not necessarily fatal.

But that wasn't what had her worried. It was how he struck them. He had struck just as they had arrived yet his eyes were closed. So how could he have known they were there? Was he listening to their footsteps or following their scents?

Frowning as neither was the case as he was not an Inuzuka like the girl behind him because he did not have the markings like she had, another possibility came to her. "Oh, I see now. You're a sensor. You specialize in chakra flow and how to read it and you read it so well you can predict your opponent's movements just a fracture of second before they move."

Hana and Miko grimaced, knowing that was exactly what Naruto had done. In fact, the only thing she had wrong was that he specialized in his chakra reading. They knew he had only just begun training it as he had only learned he had it when Yugito was hospitalized.

Nodding at one another, they both rushed by Naruto which in turn made him snap his concentration. Jumping to each of Psiren's side, they threw a couple of shuriken towards her before diving in. However, Hana saw something wrong as she could see the Iwa kunoichi smirking as they neared her.

Simply back-flipping to avoid the projectiles, she landed with a skid before striking out with a right backhand at Hana coming from the left. Before the Inuzuka could defend herself, the Psiren connect and drove her into the mountain side before using her momentum and spun to drive a kick into Miko's chest, attempting to knock her back into Naruto.

Jumping over her, Naruto brought his katana down to block her jab to his face so he could safely land. But it was only a fake as she brought her knee to his gut and pushed him back before running over to the downed Miko as she attempted to pick herself up. With a single kick to her gut, she knocked the girl off the side of the cliff.

Seeing the girl and the blonde boy panic, Psiren grinned at them. "Oh, don't worry. I don't plan on letting the mountain kill her."

"NO!" Naruto yelled out as the kunoichi back-flipped off the mountain, heading straight to where Miko was falling. Grimacing, Naruto closed his eyes and focused on the seals he had been laying out on the climb up. Using his sensory to tell where Miko was, there would only be one chance at this.

Tumbling down the side, the rough edges bashing, bruising and gashing her, Miko couldn't stop as she continue rolling down the mountain. Knowing there was only one way to do so, she caught her foot on a small rock and changed the direction she was spinning in. Now being righted, she drew two kunai and plunged them into the mountain side.

She had to stab repeatedly as her momentum carried her further, scarring the mountain side with her kunai. Panting heavily, Miko grinned despite her condition. She didn't care if she was bruised and bloodied, she was still alive. She would not die at the hands of this woman. She would live as she had been given that chance.

Her grin immediately dispersed as she was suddenly shoved into the mountain side, Psiren pinning her once more. "Did you think it was over, little Uchiha? No, no. I'm far from done. There are many more things I want to do to you before letting you die, bitch."

Miko did not know what this girl had against her, but she was beginning to curse her family for it. More then likely her family had done something to hers in the IwaKono war and now she was paying for it. Struggling against her, Miko turned one lone eye to her. "Do what you like, but I'm not going to die here!"

Frowning as she had been trying to frighten this girl knowing she was an Uchiha, Psiren drove her fist into her side before grabbing her by the neck. "Oh yes you will. I was going to toy with you for a while, but now..."

Psiren suddenly turned her head, not sure why only to see a flash of yellow before the blonde haired boy was before her. Her entire body froze. That was the jutsu... The one that made them surrender the war. The Flying Thunder God! And this boy knew it!

Being unable to comprehend what had happened, Psiren saw that he was now behind her and his hand was on her chest. Now this normally would offend her, but she began to feel woozy as if all the blood was rushing from her head. But then she saw blood spurting onto the Uchiha girl's face and her eyes widened as her hand reached for her throat.

Pushing her off, not wanting to expose Miko to her blood any further, Naruto watched as her body plummeted down the mountain side, tumbling down before he turned his attention to his downed friend.

Looking up as she fell, Psiren's vision blurred before she reached her blood soaked hand out as she saw images of her fiancé before her. Closing her eyes, tears beginning to stream down her eyes as she her body turned from the sky and began crashing down onto the side of the mountain.

But she smiled as she knew it would be long until he was with her again as in death, they would be together once more.

* * *

"Naruto... You don't have to carry me. I feel better now." Miko complained as they reached their gate with time to spare.

Hana, however, glared at her before shaking her head. "Whether or not you feel better doesn't matter. Climbing down a mountain with as many broken bones as you have would only cause you to be further injured and may very well disqualify us."

Glaring back at her captain, Miko sighed as Naruto let her down. She moved gingerly, but she was still capable of moving. She just needed a lot of healing and rest to recover from the injuries she took from the Iwa kunoichi.

The moment they walked out of their gate, the scroll suddenly activated and E was summoned before them. "Hm, a second team has come back... However, you don't look very well girl."

"I've been better." Was Miko's only response as she gazed upon him, not wanting to deal with any more shit as she had dealt with enough of that on the mountain.

Looking at her for a moment longer, E suddenly began bellowing at her before shaking her head, unable to contain his laughter. "Girl, you've got some spunk. You're team will move onto the next round just because I like you. Medics, we've got one that need a few stitches and bone mending!"

Laughing a bit herself, Miko almost jumped up as Hana wrapped her arm around her shoulders while Naruto simply grinned at her. "And here we thought you might be why we didn't move on. Boy were we wrong!"

Glaring at her team captain once more as the medics arrived, so to did a familiar face and he did not look pleased. Naruto simply stepped in front of Hana and Miko, his eyes focused on the other jinchuuriki. "What is it you want, dog?"

The Iwa vessel said nothing. He continued looking at the boy as his right hand clutch onto something tightly. "Boy... I will kill you. ...She was all I had. The only one that loved me! When we meet again, pray to God for redemption as I will make you suffer every minute just like she did!"

E had already moved in to break anything up as fighting outside the exams was illegal and could get both teams thrown out. But he was interested to see how the blonde would respond, hearing what had happened the day before.

Naruto said nothing as he looked back and into his eyes. Only crossing his arms and closing his eyes for a moment, they reopened to reveal the crimson eyes of Kyuubi once more.

"Now we understand one another, mutt. You took away what was mine long ago and now I will finally gain my revenge. Just remember what I said before, _I_ will kill you!" Kyuubi's voice came from Naruto's lips, promising swift death if he were to even near her child as she was ready to break the seal and defend him.

Narrowing his eyes, clutching what was more then likely a precious trinket from Psiren, the Iwa vessel turned from Naruto and walked away just as Hayate was walking towards them.

Closing his eyes, letting them revert back to their natural blue, Naruto's eyes opened once more before he passed by his sensei. He had to train to make sure he could make his mother's word come true.

* * *

**A/N**: Well... this was a faster update then I normally do! ...I swear I just got booed. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. This was originally meant to be part of the last chapter, but I thought it be better that I give it one to its own as it sets up the climax. Also, Kyuubi's reasons for wanting the five tails dead will be explain in the next chapter.

On, one final thing. I've did some modifying to the chapters. Nothing has really changed, but I have spaced it out and added a few things here and there. Nothing to really go back and read.

So finally if you have any other questions or comments, leave a review and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Peace Out.


	11. The Birth of a Prince

_Blood. She was covered in blood._

_She didn't understand why, but her entire upper body was coated in the crimson liquid. It was something that she wasn't used to as she was used to spilling the blood without a single drop touching her._

_Yet here she was, drenched from the chest to her lap, stained with it while more dripped from the one she held._

_She couldn't see his face as his head was turned from her nor could she see the color of his hair, it being soaked by his own blood. Gashes covered his body from head to toe and blood soaked the area, not all being his own letting her know he didn't go without a fight._

_But that did not comfort her in the least… As it had been she who had slain him._

_She simply had last control of her being; the reason for it was a battle she had just went through. She had fought with all of her being after their threat towards the thing that meant most to her in the world and it was because of that, she could no longer control herself when he arrived._

_Her body shook as she clenched him tightly as tears began to trail down her cheeks. This couldn't be happening. Not after everything she put into being with him. This could not be the way it ended!_

_Shaking further, she began screaming her anger, her pain and her sorrow to the world. Her scream continued to get louder as her visage became more and more feral. Flashes of red began to form around and blew away the ground around her, cratering it and lifting the rubble around her before it literally disintegrated from the strength of her aura._

_She continued screaming as her crimson eyes began to burn brightly. Her pain and sorrow began to wash away as her fury began to overwhelm all of her thought. The red flashes around her turned into a brilliant and frightening orb of power as it expanded around her, disintegrating everything around her._

_Yet his body was left unharmed as she clenched to him even tighter. Both his and her hair wisped in the wind her power was generating. Her tears fell onto his cheek, washing away some of the blood and dirt leaving her a cleared view of his face…_

"Mother?"

Kyuubi's eyes snapped open. She had been dreaming of him again. She clenched her fist tightly before she brought both of her hands to her face and wiped the tears trailing down her cheeks.

That memory always brought her to tears. Her lover's death had been what drove her to madness for so long. She only held the fury for what happened so long she had forgotten about everything. But now she was finally calmed, she could remember everything with clarity.

Yet that event still brought forth a strong emotional response, one of fury but now remorse and regret mixed with it. She missed him greatly. There was only one other thing could cause such an emotional outburst from her.

And he had walked into her temporary prison and besides her, looking at her with some worry. "Mother? Are you alright?"

Looking at the small blonde, she could hardly keep her emotions in check. Not now. Not after seeing the incarnation of her lover's murderer. She knew it was foolish to look at the vessel of the five tails as such, as she had been the one to slay him, but she couldn't help it. He was the cause of what took the only thing that had meaning to her! …At least, the only thing that used to mean a thing to her.

Reaching out, she gently cupped Naruto's face before stroking his cheek gently. He looked so much like her lover. She actually thought at times he very well could be one of his family's descendents, but she had no proof of that. But whether it was true or not, it simply made her more protective of him and care for him deeper.

Embracing him tightly, closing her eyes, Kyuubi breathing labored as she kept from crying. "I'm fine… Kit. …I'm fine."

Being uncomfortable in his mother's grip, never having liked the feeling that much, Naruto tried to wiggle free of it for a moment before he could feel her being around his. He could feel everything she felt. It was almost all pain. Yes, there was rage and there was another feeling there he wasn't quite sure what was, but he could feel the pain and that's all he cared about.

Tightening his fists, he leaned his head against her shoulder in the embrace before closing his eyes. "I'll make sure he pays… No one hurts my mother."

Kyuubi almost cried as she held him tighter. She never wanted to drag him into this, but now she had no choice. She could always free herself, but she couldn't as it would be as if she abandoned him and that was something she could not do.

Not after she finally was beginning to love again. But now could she protect the one she love from the same fate?

Breaking the embrace, on the verge of crying, she looked at his face before mustering a smile even if it was forced. She had to put up a strong front for him. She couldn't let her son see her this weak. "Come on… You've got to practice with the flash more. We can work on our project later."

Naruto only nodded as he looked at his mother. He would do whatever it took to make her happy again.

* * *

Hayate was plenty pissed at Naruto. It wasn't that he had walked off after they finished the exam and had not stuck around for the explanation of the next round. That was only part of the reason he was infuriated at the boy. He had a few other reasons that he was angry at the boy.

One happened to be that it didn't seem he cared for the sake of his teammates. Gekkou knew this to be otherwise, but it was still vexatious nonetheless. Another was that he had seemingly been ignoring him the last few days and he was getting sick and tired of it and wanted to send him a message.

But there was one last thing he was very, very upset about. He had heard, at least from Hana's report, about what happened on Murder Peak.

Well, upset wasn't the right word. He was very disturbed about Hana's report and Miko's input. The fact that Naruto had simply vanished and reappeared to kill Miko's assailant was frightening on its own, but the way they had described it was… Fearful.

Wanting to get this from the source directly, not caring that Hana and Miko were with him, Hayate did not waste his time as he marched their way back to the hotel before nearly kicked the door off the hinges as he yelled out. "Naruto! I need to talk to you…"

His words died on his lips as Naruto was sitting in the very center of the main room, meditating just as he did last morning. But this was not what had silenced him as he would have started scolding him. It was what he had seen in the room.

Despite the table being moved aside, as it was in the center of the room originally, it was the corners of the room. In each corner there was a kunai stuck into crease between the walls and the floor. And it was the kunais that had made him speechless as he knew that design as did many Konoha ninja, and probably more Iwa ninja, knew what it was for.

The Flying Thunder God.

If Hayate had been just a little more shocked, he would have lost consciousness. While Hana's and Miko's account had given an indication that this was possible, there was no stopping the utter amazement as it was staggering that a gennin, no, an eight year old child knew the technique that was feared by all nations.

Miko immediately recognized the kunais, having been given one by her mother before she had left. She had also noticed that Naruto had been stopping at points in the mountain and doing the same thing he had done to Yugito's hand with the only difference being he had marked the mountain instead. And with Naruto's sudden rescue… Was he supposed to be her dark knight in shining armor?

Hana wasn't sure what had happened to their sensei, but it had to be something big. He had a full head of steam and it seemed he was ready to unload onto Naruto yet now he had been silenced just by the seen they had walked into. There wasn't anything that was jarring in her mind; she just wondered what the kunai did.

"So, are these markers for what you did to save Miko?" Hana responded, closing the door to make sure no one was spying on them. It was possible and she just really had a bad feeling as the Iwa jinchuuriki was somewhere within Kumogakure.

Not responding verbally, Naruto vanished and only a flicker of golden light was left. But in that same moment, Naruto was standing directly behind the, a full five meters from the both kunai as the room was ten by ten.

This didn't help Hayate in the slightest. In fact, after he realized Naruto was behind them, he jumped forward and cursed, forgoing his normal cough. "Son of a bitch! Don't fucking do that again, EVER!"

Naruto only shrugged. He was only testing his distance and had improved greatly from where it had been. Training with the four was much better as it allowed him to get a better grasp on the technique and it also made his focus sharper, having to concentrate on the one he would travel to.

Seeing Hana was rather pleased, being answered, Miko was a little terrified at what she had seen, now having seen it clearly and without her life being in danger. She knew what that technique was to. Her mother never stopped talking about it when they asked about the Forth, as she claimed that she was a former girlfriend, raving on about how genius it was and how marvelous he was.

…Needless to say their father was not amused when she raved about him, acting like a ravenous fan girl.

"How… Since when have you known…? Why do you know the Flying Thunder God? That technique belonged to the Forth and only him! No one else has the right to know it!" Miko suddenly burst out, very angered that her teammate knew the technique that made her idol a legend.

While those thoughts were on his mind, to an extent as he kind of could see how Naruto deserved them, Gekkou had to wait for an answer. He rather know them as they were rather critical questions, despite he had a feeling the toad sannin was the reason for all of Miko's questions.

"Jiraiya taught it to me." Naruto answered right on cue, confirming Hayate's thoughts, before his dark blue eyes gazed straight into hers, not caring her Sharingan was active. "As for why, I was told it was my right to learn it as he was the one that burdened me with the demon fox."

Miko immediately dropped her guard, her eyes reverting back to normal, grimacing at that truth. Hayate was grimacing as well, his attention being brought to Hana before his jaw nearly dropped as the Inuzuka seemed utterly unaffected by Naruto coming out and saying he was the jinchuuriki of Kyuubi.

Not wanting to bother with them anymore, feeling like he had enough for the day, Naruto went and picked up the kunai and sealed them away before entering his room, not wanting to be bothered.

Also having seen Hana's reaction, Miko turned to her captain before speaking as she was rather shocked that Hana was taking it so well. "Since when did you know he was the vessel of the fox?"

"I knew before I was even a gennin. Mother brought him home many times and I often overheard other clan members talking about it, not liking him very much. I thought it was kind of dumb seeing that if mom felt it was safe enough to bring him over to try and play with Kiba and me, he was alright." Hana explained, shrugging her shoulders as it wasn't a big deal.

After that tidbit of information, seeing as he wanted to know as well, Hayate moved forward as he was no longer stunned and entered Naruto's room, closing the door behind him.

"What do you want sensei?" Naruto's melancholy voice as he lay in his bed, a rarity as Naruto did not show very much emotion and when he did it was often anger or annoyance, never sadness.

"There are a few questions I wanted to ask that it would be best they didn't hear." Gekkou responded as informing him of what the next exam was about could wait.

Naruto simply nodded, understanding that his jounin-sensei would have more questions that he would need to be answered. "Naruto, what else has Jiraiya taught you? I would like to know."

"I've only signed the summoning contract with the toads, nothing more. He did mention once I reached five meters with Hiraishin he would teach me the Rasengan, but that will have to wait until after the exams." Naruto told leaving nothing out as that was all Jiraiya had been teaching him.

While he felt Naruto was honest about what Jiraiya had been training him in, he felt there was still something the boy was working on and he kind of wanted to know. Kyuubi had not been able to have a voice before unless Naruto had informed them of her opinion and now there had been two incidences where she had been speaking, not Naruto.

"What is with Kyuubi being able to speak all of a sudden? Before now either you have had to tell us or a Yamanaka had to go in your mind to speak with her." Gekkou asked with a frown as he didn't like the fact that Kyuubi seemed to have more and more hold every day.

"I've been working on that with mother for a while. She wants to be able to communicate what she has been thinking to others but until the seal was weakened the way it was it wasn't possible." Naruto responded as he knew that question had to be coming as it was rather suspicious for mother to suddenly start speaking through him.

Hayate didn't really like that question, as he rather the fox had no communication with them, but he had to live with it. Jiraiya had refused to use the key to the seal to fix Naruto's seal due to he couldn't be sure if it would help at all. But there was another reason. If it worked, Kyuubi would be sealed back to the original strength and if that were to happen, Naruto might very well break as it was just as much her will keeping Naruto sane as it was his.

Having one last question, Hayate gave Naruto a sharp look and a deeper voice. "Is it because of what he did to Hana before that you want to kill him or is it because of Kyuubi?"

"It is because of mother." Naruto immediately answered, making Hayate narrow his eyes.

He was ready to pull his team from the exams now. If it was Kyuubi calling the shots, he wouldn't hesitate to do so and it seemed that was the case, but Naruto spoke again. "But it is for Hana as well… I will let mother kill him for taking her happiness away. …But I will kill him as Hana is my friend. …No one hurts my friends and family."

The room was silent for what seemed to be an hour. It was only a few minutes, but nevertheless it felt like it was a few hours before Hayate nodded. "I see… The final portion of the test will be held two weeks from now as they sent notice a while back that the turn out would not be very high this year and the lords and Kages are on their way."

"It is a tournament then? Who is my opponent?" Naruto asked as for the first time he moved from the position he had been since Hayate entered, seeming a little excited.

"You will be fighting both the Cloud team that made it and the team from the Rock with Hana and Miko. …The final test will be a free-for-all team battle as all three teams finished within an hour of one another. …It will be the only match, so prepare well and make sure to train with Hana and Miko." Hayate answered before he opened to door.

However, before he exited, he turned to Naruto and smiled a little. "Just remember, don't hold back. I think all of us would be disappointed if you did."

As he exited the room, Naruto's eyes bled crimson as a smirk graced his lips. He and his mother would get their opponent. That was what mattered most.

* * *

For team Hayate, the two weeks were up way too quickly.

Miko had barely recovered back to full health, the time just being enough to mend her bones. Truthfully, she needed another two weeks so she could be in top condition again, but there was no real choice now. Either she entered with her team or they would be eliminated and would have to wait at least six months to enter another chunin exam.

Hana simply didn't like the format. Why did all three teams have to fight at once? Couldn't they have just done like Konoha did and have a one on one tournament? It also didn't help that it seemed like they were speeding through the exams. It should not have mattered that there was a low participation rate this year, they still should have given the one month wait between the second and third exam.

For Naruto, they only thing he didn't like was that Hana and Miko were complaining. Sure, he would have liked more time to train with Hiraishin and his mother's project, but things just didn't go that way. So why couldn't they just accept it and put on their game faces?

Sighing as he could see that his team wasn't exactly gelling at the moment, Gekkou shook his head. "Lord Hokage just came in last night and he'll be watching you along with some of your family and friends that were allowed off for the exams. They'll be over here shortly."

"Is that why I hear some bow-chika-bow-wow going on in your room last night?" Naruto stated as fact, not even looking remotely disconcerted by what he had said.

Hayate simply blinked at Naruto, his mouth slightly askew and tilted to the left. While he figured they knew what sex was, he didn't think they heard him last night… But there was a more pressing matter, at least to him. "Bow-chika-bow-wow? Who in the world taught you to say that?"

As the door opened from Hayate's room, revealing Yugao in her Anbu armor as she slid her gloves and an attached her mask to her belt, Naruto looked at her for a moment before turning back to Hayate. "That is a conflict of interest."

Hana busted out laughing while Miko nearly snickered as Hayate face faulted and Yugao grinned, having heard the conversation from within the room. Shaking her head, she moved over and patted Naruto on the head, which did nothing as he really didn't care, before pecking Gekkou on the cheek. "Sorry love, but I'm on duty."

"Damn… I was hoping for another quickie." Hayate grinned as he kissed her back, not caring if his team was in the room with them. They should know about this stuff and it was good for Naruto to learn about.

"There are fucking kids in the room, you know?" A familiar and female voice hissed as the door burst open, revealing the snake mistress standing before the Hokage and a small crowd of people.

While Gekkou and Yugao quickly broke it up, Yugao only twitched as she slid her mask on as she was on duty. That didn't stop her from commenting though. "And this is the one that openly admits to having sex in front of Naruto and any child at that matter. Then you go on to explain what happened in bed."

Anko simply shrugged her shoulders, knowing she did as such. "Bah, I have an excuse. I'M INSANE. And I never call it sex, I call it fu…"

"AHK! ENOUGH! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE!" Miko screamed out as she covered her ears and started chanting 'No, no, no!' over and over again to keep Anko from saying any more.

Glad he was ignoring what was coming out of his adoptive mother's mouth, as he did a lot of times as it just seemed to be for the best, Naruto was somewhat upset. Outside of the Anbu guarding the old man, only Anko, Itachi and Tsume had come. To make things worse, he only knew two of the Anbu, Yamato and Yugao. …Wait, Jiraiya was there too. He just wasn't with them and seemed to be at a certain place…

Ignoring the perverts location, Naruto at least understood why only they had came. While the Cloud wasn't exactly a hostile environment, it really wasn't a friendly one either. Add on it was a long trip and the Hokage's safety was the first concern, he could see why the others, Yugito in particular as she was the one he wanted to be here, could not come.

Smiling and shaking his head at everything that was happening, Sarutobi looked over at the three gennin. He had been reported on everything that had happened here so far and while he was also disturbed at Kyuubi's activity level, for once he could understand it. Outside of Naruto, and possibly Yugito, he knew more about what was going on with the fox then anyone.

As it finally began to quite down, Anko and Yugao seeing that the Hokage wanted to speak, Sarutobi cleared his throat before beginning. "Well, I'm glad the three of you made it this far. …I guess I'm really only here to tell you good luck as everyone else is."

"That's not why I'm here." Anko loudly commented, making everyone turn towards her as she looked at Naruto and gave him a sadistic grin that normally meant bad news. "Fuck people up for me!"

Naruto would have given her a response, but everyone else was currently had face faulted and he was wondering why. They had to be expecting that. This was Anko; the blood lusting, tormenting, psychotic Anko. They had to know she would have said something along those lines. It was just in her character to do so.

Watching everyone recover, twitching her eyes, Anko looked at her watch before grimacing. "Oh… We better start going. The exams start in like thirty minutes. The old fart has to be there in twenty to meet with the Raikage and the Tsuchikage… This sounds like it is going to get bad."

No one disputed that, knowing the oldest Kage of them all was from the Rock. And each and every single one of them knew he was a bitter old man that held grudges forever. It just happened to be he had a very big grudge against them thanks to the war and getting his ass kicked a few times, and not just by Sarutobi.

"Well, I will be watching you with the other Kages. I pray you will do well." Sarutobi waved a goodbye and gave them a warm smile before exiting, having to meet with the other Kages as Anko said.

Shaking his head, Hayate could only sigh before coughing. This time it wasn't a fake cough and that alone made him groan. "This is going to be a long day…"

* * *

The time had finally arrived. It was only ten minutes till the final portion of the exams begun and they had reached the arena.

They all had to admit, the Cloud's arena was very similar to the one in Konoha. The only difference was it was actually made from the peak of the mountain which gave it a very, very unique appearance. But now they were here, that was the least of their concern.

Hana was having a hard time from trembling as the three teams took center stage. The three Cloud gennin obviously were getting a grand ovation as they were the home town kids so that was natural. But that really didn't bother her.

What bothered her was the cold blooded look she was receiving from the demon vessel from the Rock. It chilled her bones as she could feel the desire for her blood he had. No, not only the desire for her blood. He wanted Naruto's and Miko's too. That was giving her all kinds of problems.

Miko didn't feel very good either as she could feel the blood lust oozing from him. It was rather unnerving and she was having a hard time focusing on the others. She knew she didn't have to worry about him, at least for now, but it was hard not to as it just felt he wanted their lives.

Finally, as Naruto took center and met his gaze, the Gobi vessel tightened his fists as his lust for blood just grew, making the Cloud team and his other two teammates look at him in fear as Gobi's chakra began to make its known.

None of them had even noticed that the Raikage had given a speech to fire them up, called their names out to the crowd so they knew who they were or the crowd roaring as E enter the arena, being the referee for the fight. The reason being, he was probably the only one there that could safely call the match without being turned to a bloody pulp.

E wasn't too thrilled at being called to do this as well. The Raikage was pushing all of his buttons right now and he was ready to just beat the shit out of him and become the next leader for the Cloud. He was sure he could… The Raikage was afraid of him every time they met face to face.

Shaking his head, E looked over the three teams before groaning. None of them were even listening as they were all focused on the two demon vessels. He actually couldn't really say anything about that otherwise, as it was hard not to, but he was use to being the focus as so many people were afraid of him.

Seeing that they weren't listening, he only briefed them on the rules. "Alright, all of you remember that this is a live battle. Anything goes but I may step in if it things start to get out of hand. Remember this is a team battle and is judge on how you do as a team, but the victor will go to the last person standing, whether they be from the Cloud, Leaf or Rock."

"Let this battle begin!" E roared out before taking a step back having thought the fire works would begin immediately.

To his, and mostly everyone's surprise, no one made a move at first. They all stood there, measuring up their opponents, but in truth they were all still watching Naruto and the Iwa vessel.

It was the latter, that made the first move as he pulled a bag he had tied to his belt today before tossing it to the closest Cloud gennin, Riko if he heard his name correctly. "There is thirty-thousand ryo in there. You may do whatever you like with it if you help us take them out first."

Both Hana and Miko literally froze. That was not good. They already worried enough just with his presence but now they would be ganging up on them.

Naruto, however, didn't care as he reacted. He moved with such speed that it was hard to see him, his small size making him even harder to see, and was on the Gobi vessel before landing a kick straight to his temple. The force was such that it sent him flying into the rocky wall.

Touching down where the other vessel was, Naruto drew his katana and struck at the other Iwa gennin next to him. The subsequently jumped away from the arcing blade and were ready to attack when four living twisters flew towards them, striking the one to the right in the chest while the other managed to get out of the way yet again.

He, however, wished he had not as Miko suddenly appeared directly behind him with fully formed Sharingan and her hands in a tiger seal. "Katon: Gokakyu!"

The flames engulfed the unsuspecting Rock ninja. But it was far from enough to kill him as he made a quick switch with one of the various logs set throughout the arena.

Just then, the Iwa jinchuuriki appeared behind her as her flames begin to vanish. Miko's entire body froze as she could feel the power he was emitting. It was truly terrifying as she had not felt such power since when Naruto had lost control and unleashed for tails against Shusui.

Having enough wit about her, Miko rolled away from his hammer fist just as Naruto came flying towards him, his katana streaking to his throat. The Iwa jinchuuriki was fast enough to block it with his wrist thanks to the armor he wore, but Naruto's forward momentum carried him into him and he drove his knee into his gut before using the blade to knock him away.

His moment of victory was short live as the Cloud gennin had decided to hold their end of the bargain. Three bolts of lighting struck him, knocking him down immediately before his opponent saw his opening and kicked Naruto while he was down, knocking his sword out of his grip and skidding him across the ground.

Hana immediately moved to help Naruto, standing before him with three clones as she had used the Beast-Human transformation with her partners. Growling at the young man before her, Hana clenched her fist tightly, her clawed fingers drawing blood from her palms. She suddenly struck, attacking wildly as she lashed out at him.

He easily knocked her aside as she wasn't even worth his time and did the same as her canines tried to attack him. He would take care of her later. He had a score to settle with the boy.

Naruto knew this wasn't good. He tried to get to his feet, but the lighting had effected his response time by a split second, which in laymen terms meant his body took a second or two to react to his command. So it took just a little longer then he wanted and that split second was what he needed.

The Iwa vessel gripped him by the collar of his shirt with his right before he began to strike him repeatedly with his left. But despite being in the position he was, Naruto fought back, kicking him in the gut before catching him in the face. But the Gobi vessel kept his grip and held Naruto away from him before throwing him in the ground.

This was not a position he liked. Naruto knew he was at a disadvantage in close range, especially when he was engaged with his opponent. But to make things worse this guy had already drawn onto three tails and it seemed he was poised to drawn more power from the canine within. The only way he could counter would be with his mother's strength but the cost would be too high.

Struggling to break his grip, Naruto hacked away at his arm with as much strength he could. He heard his bone crack, but it didn't seem to matter in the slightest. Apparently Gobi was good at healing just as his mother was…

The broken bone only took a moment to fix as he let go. Then he began to pelt Naruto with fist after fist, forcing him to only put his arms up to defend his face from the strikes. It didn't even matter as the power he put into each punch snapped the boy's arms like twigs as he pummeled his face.

Blood began to fill his mouth. Things were not looking up, but then he heard his mother's voice. "**Just hold on… You cannot use my power yet so you have to endure….**"

Grinning at this, despite the shape his bloodied face was in and the fact his mother said nothing of real encouragement, Naruto knew the tide was about to change. He could feel it.

Despite being knocked aside, Hana quickly got back up and tried to charge him. She was deterred as two of the Cloud shinobi stood in her way, a blonde haired girl and the other a dark skinned teen, both wielding blades that left two gashes one trailing down her left arm while the other grazed her hip on the right side. "Get out of my way!"

After they didn't Hana's hands formed a few quick seals before the ground rumbled before spear-like pillars shot out towards them. The two back flipped to avoid them and cut down the pillars that nearly hit them, but that allowed her enough time to use another Gatsuga with her trio, hitting them from all directions.

The girl, however, suddenly dispersed into lighting and unfortunately Hana happened to be actually hitting her. Despite the rotation of her attack, the electricity pierced through and made her yell out and stop the spin. Skidding along the ground, she gritted her teeth before her three partners jumped before her.

It mattered not as the fattest of the Iwa gennin, rose from the ground and locked her arms behind her. Her gasp caught their attention, but it left all three open and two were hit by balls of lighting and reverted back as they could no longer hold the transformation.

The final one turned only for two blades to rip through its chest. It was fortunate as the blades didn't go through any crucial spots, but to Hana's eyes it was horrific as her partner reverted back and hit the ground, blood beginning to pool underneath him. She screamed out before being violently slammed to the ground as the guy pinned her down.

Miko was having her own problems. The blue haired gennin from the Cloud was just ridiculously fast. She could see him, but the problem was she couldn't react fast enough so he was just knocking her around. It was getting highly annoying and it was wearing her down. But this time as he came in, she had a plan for him.

Watching his path, Miko held her ground as he came at her before suddenly throwing a smoke bomb down at the last second, catching him within it. He reacted just as she wanted him to and immediately jumped out, expecting her to lay some sort of trap. The thing was, he had walked into her trap.

She burst from the smoke before suddenly locking onto him with a clench. "Now let's see what your speed will do for you now!"

Before he could respond, she brought her knee straight into his groin. It was a cheep shot, but anything was legal and she needed to weaken him so he wouldn't break her clench. It also helped as he dropped his guard and she began kicking her knees up into his chest before getting a free shot to his head, bringing it to her knee.

Just as he began to stumble and she was ready to end the fight, a dragon made of mud and dirt erupted from the ground before her and caught her in the chest. Even with her Sharingan active, she could not react to the chakra she had seen. She had forgotten this wasn't a one on one and it cost her.

As she hit the ground and the dragon collapsed on top of her, Miko cried out in agony. It felt as if her chest had just been crushed. Her bones hadn't entirely recovered and a lot of them happened to be her ribs. It just so happened that the dragon broke them again and ripped open her shirt shredded her skin. The only bright side was that she somehow wasn't exposed from the blow…

Then things got worse as she saw yet other Iwa gennin, the one with tan skinned and brown hair, before he slammed his foot down on her chest and pinned her to the ground. "We've got the down boss! You want to kill them yourself?"

E was ready to jump in and call the Konoha team out. This had quickly escalated and he needed to do something, but something was holding him back. He couldn't understand it, but with one look at the blonde's bloodied face he realized something. This fight was not even close to being finished.

Not liking the grin, the Gobi vessel lifted Naruto before tossing him into the wall. Not going to let the boy pry himself out of it, he used a specialized earth jutsu that wrapped a cocoon of hardened dirt around his entire body only leaving his head visible. "Yes… It is just. Not only did Konoha cause us the war, he killed my lover…"

Looking straight into his eyes, seeing the look on Naruto's face, the Iwa vessel ripped the mask covering his mouth up to show him his wicked grin. "I'm going to make you watch me kill them… To show you the pain you have caused me!"

Naruto gritted his teeth as his eyes widened. He couldn't let him kill Hana or Miko. They weren't just teammates. He could no longer say that. He had been around them long enough that they were more then that.

They were both his friends… And friends were his family. Both were now a part of his family. No one hurt his family! No one!

He couldn't watch them die. It would just be too much for him to handle. Not after everything he had been through. He would not let this happen!

Naruto's eyes suddenly turned entirely white. There was no color in them for just a brief moment before the pupil returned but it was now red just as it had become many times before. But there was something different this time as Kyuubi's chakra was flowing differently. "MOTHER! STOP HIM NOW!"

* * *

Standing before Naruto, just behind the bars in his mind, Kyuubi looked down at her son. "You know what it is you ask of me. We're not sure if it is ready yet. …Are you sure?"

"I don't care… If it comes down to it, I'll live with it just as you have done. …I cannot live if I let him hurt my family." Naruto answered as he looked at his caged mother.

Kyuubi smiled grimly, knowing what could happen if it failed. But this was what he wanted more then anything. She could no let him down.

Dragging her claws through her wrist, cutting it open and letting it fall into the water, the water suddenly was bathed crimson as Naruto reached out and wiped his hand through her blood. Still smiling at him, Kyuubi, with her clean hand, ran her hand over Naruto's bloodied face, as his appearance in her reflected his outside appearance.

"Are you ready?" She asked one last time as her hands formed a seal.

Naruto simply nodded and placed his hands in the same seal. Taking one breath, both began going through they same seals. They mimicked one another perfectly, as if they were a mirror before placing their hands on the gate at the same exact moment, the only difference was Naruto's hand was placed on the seal.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu."

White smoke billowed through the room, blinding everything from sight before the smoke suddenly began to change in color, becoming blood red.

* * *

It seemed as if everything froze as Naruto's eyes were entirely red before an orb of crimson chakra exploded around him, disintegrating the cocoon and wall that had contained him moments before. Nothing could be seen within it. Naruto had completely vanished.

The orb expanded, almost taking the entire wall with it as it grew in size. The wind picked up and blew with great force, making it hard for all those standing to stay so, as it whirled around the crimson orb. Lighting began to strike down next to it despite there being hardly any clouds in the sky. The ground crater before rising before water gushed out from below, spraying over all that were watching before fizzing out from the heat generated from the orb just as the wind had died down.

A fine mist covered the arena, the orb now having disappeared in the mist. But the power of it could still be felt by all.

Almost everyone was afraid of it, none more so then the Sandaime Hokage. The power was exactly the same that he felt eight years ago when Minato had sealed the fox away. He had Naruto clear as day and now he was worried. Had Kyuubi answered his cry?

As the mist thinned out, all attention was on the lone figure near the wall where the orb had been moments before. But there were obvious changes for those that could tell already but now as the mist evaporated, everyone could see them. No longer did a young boy stand there.

It was now a woman with fiery red hair, tied in a bun on the top of her head. A sleeveless, crimson shirt with metallic armor woven in covered her chest while she wore a thick pair of brown pants that seemed to be woven out of the same material that makes rope.

While her face was hanging, as if she was checking on something, three claw-like marks stretched on her cheek and despite not being able to see her eyes, you could see the crimson glow burning.

Standing straight, the woman smiled as everything worked to perfection. After she was done, she could trade places with her son once more. Closing her eyes, letting the breeze of the wind blow on her face just she could remember how it felt, her eyes snapped open and locked onto her target. It was now time for business.

Before he could move, Kyuubi suddenly gripped the Gobi vessel's throat and easily lifted him into the air. Her crimson eyes peered into his greenish-brown, the demon within not completely overwhelming him with its power. She could smell the fear coming from him.

He knew what she was, as did everyone else in the arena. She was the legend. She was Kyuubi no Kitsune. But that wasn't enough. She was going to give them a reason to fear her.

But before she did that, she needed a report on her boy. '_Is your body recovering in there?_'

"_It's doing fine, mother. You're diverting enough chakra here that I'm almost a hundred percent again._" Naruto responded, feeling somewhat weird that he was the one talking in her head while he was in the cage. It was a unique feeling that kind of got under his skin. It was also weird that her chakra was healing him once more, but that one he actually welcomed.

Feeling better, knowing that her boy would be alright, Kyuubi dug her finger nails into the boy's throat before coating her other hand with her chakra. Then with one swift movement, it pierced into his stomach, right where his seal was.

"It is just as I said it would be before." Kyuubi spoke, letting her voice travel through the arena, her blood lust traveling with it as her eyes burned brightly as if they held fire within them. "I told you_ I _would kill before this was all over."

The reaction that was given was not that was expected by many. He started chuckling as the green chakra began to swell around him before a demonic voice spoke through the young man's body, the voice belonging to Gobi. "**Do you really think kill me will get him back?**"

"No." Kyuubi responded as she closed her eyes, knowing she would never get him back. But as her eyes opened, a sadistic smile replaced her downtrodden face. "But it will make me feel better."

With a burst of chakra, his stomach exploded and the green chakra dematerialized as if it had been destroying as well. Blood and guts stained the ground at Kyuubi's feet, but she hardily cared. She had finally gotten her revenge… Even if it wasn't how she imagined it to be.

Taking a look around at the arena, Kyuubi thoroughly examined the situation and knew her son could handle it. It would take him to reveal his other, more so known secret but she had a feeling that was what the Hokage had wanted when Jiraiya began training him.

Suppressing her chakra as much as she could, she picked up her son's blade before stabbing it into the ground. It could not be reverse if too much of her chakra remained in the physical body. After all, she didn't want to see her boy in the critical state he was after his seal was damaged.

"Naruto, time to finish this under your own power." Kyuubi stated before her body was enveloped by summoning smoke as she had done all she could.

As the smoke began to thin, two kunai shot out from the smoke and pierced the ground next to Hana and Miko. The next thing that happened was just as shocking to everyone as was the summoning of Kyuubi.

With two flashes of light, the opposing gennin hit the ground, blood gushing from their collar bones as they hit the ground unconscious. Standing before Hana, Naruto wiped his blade clean of blood. Looking at the Inuzuka, Naruto smiled at her before he looked over at the Iwa jinchuuriki's corpse. "It is finished."

Having watching the entire thing from start to finish in secret, Jiraiya knew it was time to act before a riot broke out. This had been the real reason he came so when Naruto had used the Flying Thunder God, he would move in and get him out of the Cloud as there was just so many possibilities to what could happen.

And while Kyuubi appearance had completely caught him off guard, he swooped down and suddenly grabbed Naruto, Hana and Miko, making sure to pick up the markers for the flash, before vanishing.

It was going to be a long day still to come…

* * *

"What in the world happened to this girl?" Shizune asked Jiraiya as she took care of Miko's injuries as while they weren't life threatening, they were rather hard to deal with as some of her ribs broke and caused her to bleed internally.

She had been beginning to wonder why Jiraiya hired her in the first place and had left her just outside a village about a days walk from the Cloud. Now that she knew, it still didn't make very much sense as they could have just let the Cloud medics take care of her.

"She had already been injured before from tumbling down a mountain during a skirmish with a team from the Rock and her wounds while healed they were easily to reaggravate as it had only been two weeks." Hana explained as she sat by Miko, rather worried about her teammate and friend's condition. Naruto was seated near them as well, he however had remained completely quiet, not sure what to think of Shizune.

Frowning as she knew it took more then two weeks for mended bones to regain their previous strength, Shizune continued mending Miko's while catching the internal bleeding the strike had caused. "So Jiraiya, what's so important that you couldn't let them be taken care of in the Cloud?"

Jiraiya had kind of expected Shizune to ask questions, mainly because Tsunade highly disapproved of her working with him. His answer, however, was rather easy as he simply tilted his head towards Naruto as he leaned his back against the tree. "I believe you can figure that one out on your own, Shizune."

Following Jiraiya's nod, she found herself staring at the young boy. She was still rather surprised that such a young boy was a gennin, but remembering Kakashi was even younger as was Itachi it wasn't such a stretch to say he couldn't be a prodigy. But his hair just seemed familiar, but she couldn't put a finger on it.

Deciding not to let that bother her now and focus all her attention on healing Miko, it only took Shizune a few more minutes before she wiped her hands. "All done. Now I will warn you, do not do any extraneous activities for the next month so you can completely heal. Otherwise I'll hunt you down and tie you down for a whole month myself, do you understand?"

Miko didn't know why but she knew this medic would carry out her threat. For some reason, despite the utter calm she felt coming from her, she instinctively knew that there was something to be feared about the medic. "I'll do my best… We might just get attacked on the way back home."

Finding that acceptable as her excuse was a possibility, Shizune nodded before turning to Jiraiya. "So is that all you wanted me for? If it is, I must be going as Lady Tsunade awaits my return."

"It is… Oh, sorry. Naruto, I forgot to give these back." Jiraiya nodded before realizing what he had in his pocket and tossed the two strange kunai to the blonde who simply caught them and put them away.

Despite hearing that she could go, Shizune suddenly found a reason to stay a little longer. Her jaw was agape as she immediately recognized what the kunai were before she gave Jiraiya a fish look before she suddenly freaked. "Really… Are you insane? Teaching that to Minato's son at such an age? Lady Tsunade would be strangling you if she knew!"

"Yes she would, and you aren't going to tell her, now are you? I believe part of my payment was not to inform her of anything important pertaining to the mission." Jiraiya commented as he peeled himself off the tree as he could now see Naruto's interest in everything had skyrocketed.

"Minato's son?" Was all that came from Naruto's mouth, confusion being the obvious tone as he had never heard of such a name before.

Sighing, as it really was his place to tell him, Jiraiya took a seat next to the boy and shook his head. Sarutobi was running late, not that it was that much of a surprise. He after all had come with the Fire Lord as well and despite wanting to leave quickly, it would be very difficult with him there.

But much to his surprise, there was a small group of ninja moving towards them, Sarutobi leading the entourage. Thankfully the Fire Lord didn't bring many people with him, only his wife, his two daughters and a trusted group of samurai, so it wouldn't be that difficult of a travel back to Konoha.

Joining them, Sarutobi took a seat next to the fire they had started seeing it was night before turning to Miko. "Are you okay? It looked like you took a nasty blow there."

"I'll be fine lord Hokage. I just need some time to rest." Miko stated with a respectful tone, knowing this was more business then it would be pleasure. After all, after what Naruto did…

Hayate was the next that came over with two of Hana's partners immediately running straight to her, Jiraiya not having the time to take them with him, the other cradled in his arm. Kneeling down in front of Hana, he smiled softly as he handed him over to her. "He'll be fine. But just like Miko he is going to need a lot of rest. He took a pretty big shot for you."

Hana was overjoyed as she began crying while laughing as she began to stroke his spine. She had actually thought he was gone as it looked bad from her angle. The fact that he not only would make it but was already awake was enough for her.

Seeing this, the Hokage smiled brightly before a more stoic look replaced it as he gazed at Naruto, who seemed to be looking at Hana as well with just a small amount of relief going out to the girl. While he was very glad that there was some emotion there, it would have to wait. "Naruto, what was that you used to summon Kyuubi?"

"It was a summoning technique I've been working on since learning I could no longer use her power in battle with damaging myself. To get around that, I came up with this so that way when I'm caught in a situation where her power would be necessary I could switch places with her for a small period of time. It also allows me to recover at a much faster rate as she diverted a good portion of her chakra to heal me." Naruto answered the old man.

Despite mostly everyone flinching at the thought that Kyuubi could be released, the Hokage remained stoic as he deliberated on what Naruto said. "How long can Kyuubi last outside of the seal before it is reversed?"

"Three to five minutes, five being rather unlikely as she would have to repress her chakra the entire time." Naruto immediately responded as he had an idea where the Hokage was going.

Nodding as that was what he figured it would be, he had one more question left. "Is it possible for her to use Hiraishin when you switch?"

Everyone else froze. That thought alone was… Well it was very disturbing. If she could use the flash… Well she could do whatever she damn well pleased. No one could stop her.

Naruto simply shook his head. "No… She does not have the same blood as I have… Or the Forth."

This through both Jiraiya and Sarutobi for a loop and the former had to ask. "Since when did you know?"

"Just now… But I've been suspecting it ever since you started training me in the flash and it was confirmed when she said Minato's son when she was yelling at you." Naruto stated before pointing at Shizune at the end.

Sighing, the third shook his head for a moment before gazing at Naruto. "Yes, Minato is your father. …I was going to tell you about your parents after you became chunin, but it matters any more. But before I do I must ask you… Do you really wish to know of your mother?"

"Kyuubi is my mother… But if you mean the one that gave birth to me, yes." Naruto answered reminding him of that truth as he met the old man's gaze.

Closing his eyes as he couldn't even look into Naruto's eyes for this, the elderly Hokage's head drooped. "Your mother, Uzumaki Kushina… abandoned you after becoming the first to try and assassinate you, Kakashi just barely being able to stop her. …To complicate matters…"

"She's joined the Akatsuki and now is the one assigned to capture you." Jiraiya admitted as he knew his sensei was struggling over this and decided to take over for him.

No one was sure what Naruto was thinking. His face was just as it was most of the time, completely blank of emotion, as he let it think in. It felt as if every second was a very long minute as they looked at him, just waiting for him to react in some kind of way.

Even Kyuubi was beginning to worry as she rather her son have some kind of reaction to this. While she had always been able to tell what was going on within his mind, even she was at a lose and tried to coax him into speaking his mind. "**Kit, are you alright? Please say something…**"

"…What is my father's last name?" Naruto suddenly asked, his face still showing no emotion while his eyes seemed to darken.

"Namikaze." Was all that was said, Anko answered as she found her way behind Naruto and enveloped him in hug, hoping it would at least get him to react.

It seemingly didn't work as for once Naruto didn't even show any signs of being uncomfortable as he looked over towards the old man. "When we get home… Strike her name from mine… I want nothing to do with her. I am only his child. My mothers have now and have always been Kyuubi and nee-chan."

Smiling at Naruto as for the first time since… Well ever, he had called her his mother. He had always called her his sister and he still did but it didn't matter. To Anko, it meant the world as the boy had been adamant that Kyuubi was his mother before.

Seeing the way everything had gone, Sarutobi simply nodded at Naruto's request. He had only given him Kushina's maiden name simply because people would have immediately figured out who he was if he gave him the Fourth's name. "It will be done… And when we arrive, I will give all three of your chunin vests. Each of you deserves it after today."

"Now let's all get some rest. We've got a long journey home." Sarutobi finished as he could see the look of shock on Hana's and Miko's faces that they were going to become chunin.

That face made his day a little better as he got up and moved to check on the Fire Lord and his family. While he had his own guard and all, he was still obligated to assist in anyway as it was his money that was keeping their economy up. "Sir, are you alright? Is there anything you need?"

"Is it true that he is Minato's son?" The Fire Lord suddenly asked as he looked over at the blonde boy as he began to glare at Anko for messing with his hair.

The Hokage responded by nodded as there was no need to verbally answer that question again. He had to wonder what the Fire Lord was thinking as he normally never had such a serious look on his face before he turned to the eldest samurai. "When we return home, send some of your top warriors to guard the boy."

"It will be done my lord." The samurai responded and said nothing more, knowing his duty now.

Sarutobi was surprised by this action. While the Fire Lord had every right to guard Naruto, it was just odd that he would do so. "May I ask why you are to have samurai guard Naruto? He is very capable of defending himself."

"That he is." The lord admitted as he had seen that first hand at the exams. "But I listened to what you had said and it seems the boy is in danger and needs all the protection he can get as if there is one that will restore our land to its former glory it will be him and bring it prosperity once more, it will be him."

Getting a better grip on what was going through the lord's mind, Sarutobi nodded as he turned his gaze to Naruto. "I've known as much so I've had him trained by Jiraiya… Because I've known he would become the Prince of Konoha."

**

* * *

**

A/N

: Yet another chapter and for once, it wasn't too horribly long of a wait for an update. I just seemed to be more in the mood for writing this story right now, so I'll keep going until I run out of steam or lose my sanity. …Not sure which will happen first right now.

Oh, just to point out I've been keeping track of this story by Naruto's age. Arc one was when he was six in the beginning, this arc is when he is eight and the next will be when he is his age at the beginning of the manga. Just to let you know, Yugito is six years his senior, not the fourteen she actually is in the series. …It would have been great to know her age before this story started, but oh well.

I combinded this chapter with the next, seeing that the next would not have been very long and the last scene really didn't matter and in fact would confuse things so I cut it.

Hopefully I answered some of the questions that have been asked and if not, leave another review so I can try and answer those. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I hope to see all of you again for the next chapter. Peace Out.


	12. Arc 3 Hey Naruto! Guess What?

"Son of a... You know this was suppose to be a team mission, right?" An Anbu with gravity defying, silver hair complained as dropped down next to his fellow Anbu, who was picking up his special weapons.

He quickly grimaced at the blood shed which was rather light compared to things he had seen before but it was how quickly they were dispatched that he was disturbed by.

Three others dropped down, none of them groaning at the lack of carnage, before the one in a navy blue mask stepped next to one of the corpses before checking his pulse, only for blood to be coughed on his masked face. "This one is alive. Shall I interrogate?"

"Go ahead, but make it quick. We're not to be seen." The Anbu with a crimson mask stated as he slid his odd weapons into his cloak.

"Hey! That's my department!" The green masked Anbu countered before adjusting the hair band and clips that held her hair together as they were rather loose.

"That may be true, but he will be passing on very soon. My method... Is the only thing that can work as of now." The dark masked Anbu responded, his crimson red eyes suddenly morphing into a pin-wheel as he looked into the dying shinobi's eyes. "Tsukiyomi."

Moments later, with garbled screams coming from the dying shinobi, the dark masked Anbu slit a kunai through his throat, finishing the job. "It is as we thought."

"So they're planning something with the Akatsuki?" The final Anbu with a light blue mask responded, her long hair braid flapping behind her in the wind.

Before the dark masked Anbu could respond, the shortest Anbu looked to the west before running a hand through his blonde hair. "...Lets find a more private setting. Reinforcements are coming and quickly."

Everyone disappeared, either being drawn into spiraling vortex of darkness near the dark masked Anbu or clinging a hold of the crimson masked Anbu and flickering away with a flash of light.

* * *

"So Iwa isn't working with the Akatsuki? But Jiraiya's spies said otherwise." Yugito commented as she scratched her head, leaning against the wall of the Hokage's office, who was still getting adjusted to both Naruto's and Itachi's sudden arrivals.

It was still very, very awkward to have someone just suddenly appear in his office with no warning whatsoever. It didn't help things that Minato had turned the room into an active seal when he was Hokage so Naruto was just appearing there whenever he chose to. Itachi was even worse as he just appeared, sometimes for no reason other then to get away from Anko.

Sighing and shaking his head, Itachi looked at Yugito for a moment before explaining more thoroughly. "It is a little of both. They are working with them in order to rake in more profit, but they are unwilling to help them gather the rest of the bijuu now that the five tails have been eliminated."

"Why in the world are they still after the bijuu? Whatever there purpose was it no longer can come to fruition now." Anko stated, crossing her arms as she had to wonder why they hadn't drop their goal yet, believing the death of the five tails should have ended their search.

"If you would let me finish, I will get to that." Itachi stated, very annoyed at being interrupted as he had been. "Otherwise I'll just write this on a report and no one else will know about it as no one here bothers to read anything on paper except for mission statements!"

Seeing that he was stating fact and not threatening, everyone stayed silent knowing how true that was. "Now as I left off, Iwa has issued an order that they will no longer have any connections to the Akatsuki mainly because they wish to keep from war with us due to the reappearance of the flash."

"However, it appears the Akatsuki has found a back-up plan so they are once again mounting an effort to capture the bijuu once more. What it is, I'm not sure but something tells me that the five tailed beast isn't entirely dead. Only Kyuubi knows of this so... Naruto, if you would." Itachi glanced over at Naruto, wanting him to let Kyuubi let them in on what she knew.

Sighing for a moment, letting his mother's chakra seep into his system, Naruto's eyes bled red before Kyuubi began to speak. "Gobi is dead; however his power cannot be destroyed and is instead looking for a new host. The reason for this, as you should know Sarutobi, is Jyubi. He binds all of us and as long as the other eight of us exist, his power will remain and unless the rest are destroyed his power will find a new, acceptable vessel to become the next bijuu."

Knowing of the legend of Jyubi, thanks to his senseis, Sarutobi nodded for a moment before looking over to the temporarily possessed Naruto. "So if that's the case, the leader of the Akatsuki knows as much so there is no reason to change their plans. They simply have to wait a little longer."

"That is the problem itself. There shouldn't be more then a handful of people that know of this. Only someone that possesses the Rinnegan or Sharingan and have read the black book, a well versed member of the Senju or someone that was close to any of those said people would know about it. For the Akatsuki to know this means one thing... Madara still lurks in the shadows." Kyuubi stated, gazing at Sarutobi to see his reaction.

This had caught Itachi's attention and he paid close attention while the old Hokage didn't seem to be too surprised by what they had said so this made the possessed Naruto frown as their red eyes burned brightly. "You knew he was still alive, didn't you?"

Sarutobi only nodded as his eyes met theirs before closing them and turning away. "I knew that he was alive because he was also involved in the attack twelve years ago and the reason why Minato had not arrived to stop you immediately. I was unable to do anything about it and I still am as he is just too dangerous."

Narrowing their eyes, Kyuubi growled before turning over control back to her son as she wished to speak to the third no longer. As soon as she did, Itachi immediately stepped and spoke, knowing what Madara did in retribution to his clan. "Lord Hokage if I may, why not send us after him? We would stand a..."

"That is not an option." Sarutobi cut Itachi off with a sharp tone, glaring straight into the Uchiha's eyes. "Despite that this is possibly the strongest collection of ninja organized into a squad in the history of shinobi all five of you are no match for him. Only if Minato was alive would I think of such an operation."

Itachi did not like that in the slightest. Madara was his to kill and he wouldn't be given the right to go after him despite being possibly the strongest shinobi within the village as he and Naruto had not sparred to determined who was the strongest, nor were they really interested in doing so.

However, he was immediately held back as Naruto took a step forward and spoke in a neutral voice, also wondering why if they could find his whereabouts why they wouldn't be sent after him. "What is it that makes him so dangerous?"

"He controls time and space, just as both Itachi and you do. However, the difference is that both of you only transmit yourself to your location and nothing more. ...Madara is dangerous because he uses it to attack by transporting the matter he touches to some unknown dimension and can keep his body in between both worlds, making him immune to physical damage." Sarutobi answered, knowing Naruto to be thinking logically about his decision.

Thinking for a moment, Naruto nodded as he could accept that but he had already found a flaw with his attacking methodology. "But wouldn't that make him vulnerable when he launches an attack on his own? One would think he would have to enter our dimension entirely to harm us."

Nodding at Naruto new question, confirming his suspicions, Sarutobi sighed. "That is the truth, but I don't know entirely of his abilities either as I only know of what my sensei told me of him and of the brief time I met him. ...I do know, however, that the only two to ever wound and defeat him were the First and Minato. And I know Minato barely defeated him as when he moved to fight Kyuubi, he almost immediately resorted to the sealing as he was physically drained."

Standing back, having let Naruto ask his questions, Itachi felt somewhat deterred as he wasn't ready to compare himself to any of the Hokages just yet. He still, however, thought they would fair well against him but fighting against an opponent they knew mostly nothing... "Naruto, does Kyuubi know anything of Madara?"

Naruto immediately shook his head, getting a one word answer from his sealed mother and that was good enough for him. "I doubt she knows any more then what Lord Hokage does as her memories of those days are very hazy from what she has told me before. ...Besides, she is in a bad mood now."

Sighing as he leaned back into his chair, wishing he had a new pipe as his last one had been destroyed by Konohamaru's shenanigans, Sarutobi looked over the five Anbu carefully before finally speaking. "As for now, there is nothing that we can do about this. I trust each of you to speak of this and your previous mission to no one. We can't afford any slip ups now as I doubt our little spy has been caught yet."

All five nodded as they knew the rules and knew the penalties for breaking them. However before they could all leave, Sarutobi stopped Naruto as the rest left the room in their normal fashion. "Naruto, I need to speak with you. It is about your unit."

Looking at the Hokage with a raised eyebrow, wondering why he didn't want to speak about whatever this was to the whole unit. Yet he didn't speak and simply waited for the third to do such as he was fine with uncomfortable silence.

Somewhat irritated that the boy didn't ask what it was about, Sarutobi began to wonder if placing him in Anbu was such a great idea. Sure, it was a great experience but he already lacked a mess of people skills. But it made this worse as he would have to start explaining without even being questioned!

"Naruto... To be perfectly honest, you unit is fine. This about you... I'm temporarily disbanding the unit as I have another job for you to do." Sarutobi finally stated being blunt about it as that was the only way to do so with Naruto.

However, to his surprise, the normally stoic blonde suddenly gained a fierce glint in his eyes as he barred his teeth and began to growl. "What? How could you even think about breaking up our team? What's going on in that loony head of yours old man?"

Sarutobi looked at Naruto, his mouth agape in shock as this happened to be the most emotion he had seen from the blonde. And it really didn't help things out it sounded like a normal outburst from Anko, except without the curses and laced with so much more venom he had to check his pulse to make sure he didn't die from the fear that was being induced.

Glad that he was still alive, Sarutobi was actually thinking about tempting Naruto further just to see what other reactions he could get out of him. Instead, he settled for a sigh and leaning further back into his chair. "I've already gone over it with the others. They have agreed that it would be for the best... As of today, you will be a jounin sensei to a team I specifically picked for you."

This time there was no audible reaction but all the same, Sarutobi could only grin as Naruto's mouth was agape of horror, understanding what the third was asking him to do. "And as I said, it is only a temporary disbanding of your unit. Once your gennin becoming chunin, the unit will reform with the addition of Jiraiya as your missions after today will involve direct contact with the Akatsuki... Think of this as a vacation."

Finally being able to gather himself, Naruto still was a little shell shocked as he pointed at Sarutobi. "You... SUCK! This is no walk through vacation! This is a death sentence! You expect me to actually look after these brats? I have a hard time looking after Anko, making sure she does nothing retarded and this is no doubt a dysfunctional team that would be almost as bad if not somehow worse!"

All Sarutobi could do was laugh. He was beside himself as he watched Naruto tirade. This would be fun to watch. ...Until Naruto realized he was laughing at him.

* * *

"Stupid old man... I will make you suffer one of these days..." Naruto grumbled as he walked through the streets, heading to a familiar destination as the sun began to set.

Needless to say he was still very upset about having to be a jounin sensei. And just to add oil to the fire, he arrived to his destination to see Hana and Miko, grinning at him before the latter spoke, not having her mouth full of ramen. "Ah, so I guess you got the news! That's good to hear!"

Naruto simply gazed at Miko, mustering as much hatred as he could possibly direct at her. Overall, it wasn't that much different then one of his normal annoyed looks. This only made Miko laugh as he sat down besides her. "Oh don't be such a big baby about it... At least you don't have to be a temporary teacher's assistant until someone else fills in for her!"

"Shut up, Miko." Hana growled, pissed that she had to fill in as no one wanted to be Iruka's assistant as he was rather demanding. "He expects everyone to be just as efficient as Kurenai and it's rather difficult as she set a really high standard being _miss Perfect_ and all! ...Besides, it isn't as bad as being caught making out with your new boyfriend by your captain when on duty!"

"I'm going to fucking kill you!" Miko roared as she jumped up and over Naruto, who ducked as he had taken the seat between the girls, and attempted to strangle the Inuzuka for blurting that out.

Needless to say Naruto had to stop the fight as it was bringing forth a lot of attention, most of it guys trying to get a sneak peak at the girls, but nonetheless a large crowd around him was never a pleasant moment. The village's hatred may had dampened from learning who he was, but it still remained and there were those factions that still sought to exile, kill or out right disclaim him in any way.

So he stopped the fight by gripping the nape of Hana's neck before pulling on the back of Miko's hair, he tossed them onto their stool before rolling his eyes. "Would you two ever act your age? ...Besides, your attention was attracting some rather unsavory characters."

As the fight was now over, the two caught Naruto's meaning as they saw many of them snarl at the sight of the blonde before walking off. Hana, however, simply growled back at them before returning to her ramen. "Ugh... What is with them? Can't they get over their petty grudges and realize that you are a good person?"

"If only it were that simple." Naruto sighed as he smiled softly at Ayame and gave her a brief nod before he dug into the bowl. "How long have you been in?"

Almost jumping back as the question was unexpected; it took Miko a second before she cursed as she suddenly caught the clock. She was so late for her shift change and she was going to have it this time! "Shit! Sorry, I'll have to tell you another time... My captain is going to lecture my ass off."

Slipping on her mask, she slid out of the stand and hurriedly raced to the tower in a panic. Watching her leave, Naruto simply shrugged as he continued where he left off. "I guess that explains it... She's just got accepted into their ranks."

"Just this week too. She's done everything she's been asked but she keeps getting into trouble because her boyfriend is on the same squad." Hana added as she finished the bowl she ordered, holding in a burp as she had to remain somewhat lady like.

"Boyfriend? ...The pretty boy with medium length purple hair, bright red eyes and a smile that seemingly causes all the young women from age fifteen to twenty-five to orgasm when he flashes them with one?" Naruto stated confused at first before he snapped his fingers as he remembered the guy. It had been a while since he heard about him. He hadn't talked to either of his team mates in the last two months.

Hana, who was expecting that and was drinking a glass of water, spit out said water before she began to howler out as she held her sides. Finally getting a hold of herself, though she was still laughing very hard, Hana nodded. "That's the one... Ha ha... That's so true."

"Surprised Itachi or Sasuke has threatened him yet. That guy is too full of himself... Maybe I should handle it." Naruto added scratching his head as he was pretty sure the two had to know of their sister's relationship before frowning as that left him wondering about his own life. "Speaking of weird relationships... I'm going to head home. Take care Hana."

"You to... Ha... ha... Help! I can't stop laughing! Ha... Causes all young women to orgasm by smiling." Hana continued tried to stop laughing but found it very difficult before she caught something that made her stop. "Wait... THAT INCLUDES ME!"

"NARUTO YOU BASTARD!" Hana screamed as she jumped up, enraged and planning on taking out her rage on the blonde but it was too late.

The only trace left of Naruto was a yellow flash heading to his house... Well, his father's place anyways.

* * *

"Why are you always late getting home?" Anko ranted as Naruto arrived in a flicker of light, catching the frying pan filled with eggs and placing them back onto the stove to keep them cooking. "You should know better then to keep your old lady waiting in your room all by herself like she is now!"

"You were the one that moved her into my room, not me." Naruto responded before heading to exit the kitchen, not sure why he had left a marker in this room as Anko always seemed to be in here with a deadly weapon soon as he flashed in. "Besides you should be paying attention to your own love life anyways."

"It is your love life and Yugito's that needs help. My love life is fine. Itachi and I just had sex ten minutes ago right against the doorway you are walking through." Anko grinned as she saw Naruto look at the door way before shuttering as he exited.

Doing a little dance in victory, a loud pop suddenly caught her attention before Naruto came down the stairs with a door before sealing it away and pocketing the scroll. "You lost your door privileges for a month. If you can't learn how to have your intercourse in a normal setting or at least not on my furniture by then, make it a year."

"What? Oh come on! I need some privacy in this place! I can't just fuck Itachi in my room without a door! What if you or Yugito walk by while we are doing it and it scars you?" Anko yelled out at Naruto for disciplining her for joking about having sex with Itachi right there.

Naruto simply raised his eyebrow before turning to someone just outside of the door's view. "You won't have to worry about that... I know Itachi won't... Will you?"

"I don't like the possibility of being walked in during... So no I won't." Itachi responded as he appeared before the doorway and simply glared at his girlfriend/fiancée. "You just had to push him, didn't you? You knew that was going to happen sooner or later?"

"How was I suppose to know that? I'm the adult of the... DON'T YOU DARE LAUGH AT ME ITACHI?" Naruto turned and left as Anko turned her rant towards her boyfriend, who had busted out laughing at Anko believing she was mature.

Navigating the rather small premise, as the house wasn't too large but it had a few bedrooms... Okay, six bedrooms. Apparently they weren't just planning on having him. Shaking that thought, not wanting to think of his mother for any reason, he was at his room and simply knocked. It wouldn't do to walk in with Yugito changing clothes again.

"It's okay..." Yugito's voice came from the other side before Naruto entered and saw she was seated in a meditative pose in the middle of their room, giving him an exasperated stare. "I thought I told you that this is your room too and you just come in... I don't change in here any more just in case."

"I don't like taking any chances. I like the furniture where it is and not flying at my face." Naruto commented as it had, at least at one point, became common place to have furniture and fixtures thrown at him.

Rolling her eyes as she still did that every now and then just because he would go silent on her for hours at a time, Yugito watched as Naruto slid onto his bed and began to slip off his armor, not caring about undressing in front of her... Mostly as he kept his pants on. "And I see that you still do change in here."

"That's because I don't have knockers as Anko refers to them." Naruto easily stated in a stoic fashion before he stood up and sat behind her, adopting her same pose as they sat back to back.

Neither spoke for a few minutes as the both began to concentrate on their meditation but strangely it was Naruto who spoke first. "So what is it that has been bother you lately? You've been meditating for the last two months... And you haven't been sleeping as much lately."

Calmly opening her eyes, she tilt her head just enough so that she could see Naruto. Yugito was slightly irritated that he hadn't even broken his meditative stance or even opened his eyes before she rolled her eyes at him and went back to her meditation. "...I just have had some bad dreams this last month. What makes you think I have been distressed?"

"Your chakra has been extremely erratic and you have been rather snippy as of lately." Naruto responded and completely threw Yugito out of her rhythm. "I also can see that you are using meditation to rest so these dreams you say you are having aren't just bad... It is something more."

Sensing that she had been startled by his observance, Naruto shook his head as he stood up and moved to his own bed and slip in. "You don't have to tell me if you don't wish... But I know whatever the reason it is tied into why Anko moved you in here. No matter what she says about wanting us to get together, I know she wanted you to stay near me to help you."

Frowning as she watched the younger vessel get comfortable in his bed, Yugito so wanted to say... But she just couldn't. At least not right now... It was her problem to deal with and he had enough of his own.

However as she gazed at him, Yugito still wasn't sure what Naruto would say as ever since he came back home from the Cloud. There was something different about him... Something that had turned him into the young man before her... He spoke more then he did and even showed joy and sorrow around his family and friends.

But there was something more that deeply affected her... What he had said when he had returned from the exams and she went out to greet him.

(Flashback)

_She was becoming rather anxious as she waited at the front gate for the Hokage's entourage and the Naruto's team to return from the exams, waiting along side of Miko's mother, Hana's little brother and fellow clan members plus Gai and Kakashi. She had been told by the latter two on what happened, having been informed as they were in charge along with a few others of taking care of the village while the Third was out._

_Needless to say Yugito was worried about Naruto as she already knew that he, despite being so cold toward the world, was still very susceptible by the events around him. Even the slightest event could cause a cataclysmic meltdown and send him spiraling into true darkness._

_She had seen it... The day she was almost taken by that man and friends. It was Naruto that had lost control of everything and began harnessing Kyuubi's own power to make the men suffer the way they did. And it sounded like something like that had just happened but instead this time... He had summoned forth the demon in her body._

_Being thrown out of her thoughts and seeing Kakashi nodding his head down the road, Yugito's heart began to race as she could see the group treading towards them. It seemed like an eternity for them arrive but once they did, Mikoto rushed out and hugged Miko followed by a very thrilled Sasuke. "I so wish I was there! I would have loved to see you kick ass big sis!"_

_As Miko looked at her mother, who simply shook her head and had told Sasuke that she had been promoted and did well instead of what really happened, the girl simply knelt down and patted him on the head. "Well what did you expect squirt? I'm super strong just like Itachi..."_

_"No you aren't." Sasuke responded, frowning before waving at his brother directly behind a suddenly fearful Miko. "Big bro is the strongest!"_

_While Miko was praying for life and Hana was dealing with her little brother, with her mother's help, Yugito would have run up to check on Naruto but to her surprise, he had moved straight to her and now was standing before her with his head hung low. "I'm sorry..."_

_"Naruto... I don't..." Yugito tried to speak but was quickly cut off._

_"I lost control and couldn't do anything again... I wasn't able to keep my own promise to you." Naruto quietly stated, his head drooping further and it sounded as if..._

_As if he was crying._

_Stunned as she could see tears falling to the road, Yugito wasn't sure what to do. He had never cried before even through all the pain she had seen he had gone through. He stood and took it without flinching yet here he was... Breaking down before her._

_She did the only thing she could even think of doing. She reached out and embraced him tightly to her bosom. "Don't... Things like this happen all the time. There will be times just like this... Where you are utterly helpless to do anything? So don't..."_

_Breaking from her grip, gazing at her with his crystal blue eyes that were glistening from the tears welled within, he shook his head. "No... I will no longer helpless... I don't ever want to experience such pain and fear again... I will not go through that again! I WILL NOT!"_

_Everyone's attention had been brought forth to Naruto, shocked at the boy's outburst; each of them having the same thoughts Yugito had just moments before. But as he wiped the tears from his eyes, it was clear that he was breaking or he had lost his will to fight... His resolve had become even fiercer._

_"Master!" Now if there wasn't confusion before, there definitely was now that Naruto had addressed Jiraiya in such a manner. "I don't want to watch my friends and family to suffer like that again... Let's go. There is work still to be done."_

_Leaving Jiraiya at a lose for words, the said sannin turned to the Third and got a simple nod. This made him want to sigh but seeing his student's resolve and his fiery will, he would not deny him the strength he needed to become stronger. "Fine... Then say your goodbyes to everyone. We'll leave immediately after."_

_His goodbyes to his team mate and team was rather simple as he simply bowed towards them and said a few choice words. "Take care... And stay safe. Use those kunais if you every in danger."_

_As Hana and Miko simply nodded, not sure how to respond as they just got back home and now they were going to be separated from their partner. Naruto simply turned to Anko and his eye almost twitched... Almost._

_"Behave." With that one word to her, he turned to Itachi and added onto it. "Make sure she does."_

_Itachi only grinned and restrained Anko from strangling her adopted son, he finally turned back to Yugito. Yet once more he wasn't able to make eye contact with her and instead looked at the ground, not sure what to say. Figuring that it was going to be hard for him to say anything to her, she was about to embrace him again when he finally found the right words._

_"I don't know what this is... But I do know that whatever this I fell is... It is stronger then what I have for anyone else." Naruto stated before he finally looked up into her face. "I've felt it ever since we first met... I'm just not sure what it is... I'll stay in touch."_

_"Master... Let's go. I want to start training immediately."_

_With one last look at his sensei, Jiraiya only nodded before the two dispersed in two plums of smoke._

(Flashback End)

She knew what it was that Naruto had tried to tell her... He had begun to care for her in a _loving _way. But just like with everything else he just didn't know how to express it and for once... She didn't know either.

Yugito would admit she had deep feelings for him ever since that day, but she wasn't ready to call it love. Not yet at least... It was just too soon to act on that impulse and say it was love as she had seen so many relationships fall apart and she didn't want to get hurt or worse... Hurt him.

Softly sighing as she stood up, she hadn't realized how late it had become, wondering how much time had passed since she dazed off, and could see that Naruto had fallen asleep. Smiling at that, Yugito shook her head as she knelt over him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Sleep well."

* * *

Naruto had a very bad morning. It started with finding Yugito in the same bed he was in. He thought nothing of her as he had figured she had no idea how she got there. So he immediately went after Anko only to realize she had no clue what the hell Naruto was talking about before she busted out laughing learning they both were in the same bed.

That left him very confused as why Yugito would willingly climb in his bed after they gave each other rules while they shared the same room. It might have been because she had just been very tired and that would have explained why she hadn't used the covers to keep herself warm. Still... It was very awkward for him.

Then there happened to be his conversation with Anko after she recovered from her laughing fit. ...She alone could put him in a very irritated mood with her antics but for once she was rather serious. And of all things, it was about relationships and she was asking him questions as she saw he was very perceptive of everything around him.

Thankfully he rather easily soothed his other mother as she apparently began to think all Itachi wanted was sex, which wasn't true. ...In fact he nearly convinced her that she was more of a worry in that case. And then he had to comfort her as she started crying and telling him about her time as the snake's apprentice as everything had gone wrong then.

He was just glad that he managed to get her calm, content and into bed to rest. After that he had to tell Itachi what happened and explain to him what was going on with Anko. Thankfully that was the easiest part of his day as the Uchiha completely understood and had been treating her gently throughout their relationship.

But now to the thing that was annoying him to no end... HE HAD TO TAKE THIS DAMN TEAM OF KIDS HIS OWN AGE! How was he suppose to do this and make them listen to him? Earning their respect was going to be a hassle and then he would have to prove that he could train them and... The list just kept getting larger and larger and it was driving him insane.

Naruto was just ready to flash before the Third strike him down for forcing him to do this... "Couldn't this have waited a few mores years you senile old fuck?"

Twitching as he could feel the old man laughing at him through his chakra signature, knowing he was using that crystal ball of his just to watch him, Naruto used a simple transformation and turned into a nude, female version of his being before reverted back to normal, feeling better now that he felt the Hokage was unconscious. "Serves you right asshole."

"Damn Iruka... Hurry up and finish your speech already. I'm not waiting much longer." Naruto growled as the chunin was ticking him off and drawing out his speech for longer then he liked. He wanted this over with!

Iruka, thankfully, wrapped up his speech and began calling out teams and their names. This Naruto didn't care about as he knew the number of his team and that was all he cared about right now. They would have to earn the right to be called by their name.

Finally just getting tired of waiting for Iruka to finish, despite saying the last team by name, Naruto focused on the marker he left in the room and in a burst of light he appeared before the class in his jounin flak jacket, padded orange shirt and a pants woven out of the same material that most ropes are made of.

The class became utterly quiet and even Iruka, after he jumped and tripped over his own desk, wasn't able to speak as Naruto gazed over at all of them before glaring at the chunin. "You are taking too fucking long... Team Seven come with me. You've got survival training to deal with to see if you really are shinobi."

Entering the room, sensing something had startled everyone, Kurenai frowned as she looked over at the young jounin. But she did not question him as she knew, for one, that he was rather unsocial and that he did not want to do this right now. Taking a step to let him go through, his shell shocked team following, she sighed and called out her team. "Those on team eight are to follow me."

Naruto did not stop as they traveled through the outskirts of the village and to the training ground his team had trained on. Stopping once they made it to the wooden stumps, Naruto suddenly turned on them with his eyes glistening at Sasuke, Sakura and a girl that seemed to be an Inuzuka as she had a pup with her. "I will say this only once so pay attention or get the hell out of here."

"This test is to determine if you truly capable of becoming a ninja at all or just like the rubbish like the rest of the villagers are. ...Everything you did in the academy was meaningless. All that matters is this test." Naruto growled out, his hatred for the villagers being heard, before pulling out three coins. "You must come me with all of your strength to succeed and take these coins from my vest. If you cannot do so in one hour you'll just be another civilian."

Looking over at the three, Naruto felt rather stunned that the only one that seemed confident was Sakura. Sasuke looked fearful, knowing his skill level through his brother, and seemed like he was ready to call it quits. The other girl, Kerlya if he remembered correctly from her file, was nervously twitching as she knew what it was that he had used to appear within the classroom.

It seemed Sakura did know either of these things as she grinned. "Is that all? We can do..."

"Shut the hell up!" Sasuke hissed at her, almost ready to strike her, before his gaze was fully back onto Naruto. "We don't have a chance at succeeding in this... He simply to strong for us."

"The Prince of Konoha... The son of the Fourth Hokage and the wielder of Flying Thunder God..." Kerlya stated before bowing lightly at Naruto, hoping to gain some credit with him. "I've heard from Lady Tsume and Hana that he is the strongest ninja within the village."

"Flattery will get you nowhere girl." Naruto said as his eye twitched, hating it when someone used his status of being his father's child. "You each have one hour from now to find me and take these coins from me. If you have one at the end, I'll accept you into the ninja ranks."

"We begin now." In a streak of golden light, Naruto had simply disappeared from sight, nearly giving Sasuke and Kerlya heart attacks in the process.

Once they realized he hadn't used it for offense and just for distance, they both let out a relieved sigh. However, that didn't stop Sakura as she turned to Kerlya as it seemed she knew a little of this guy. "Why are you acting like such a wuss? He's our age so we at least stand a chance of getting those coins!"

"I agree with the Uchiha... Shut the hell up!" Kerlya yelled at Sakura, very annoyed that the girl was attempting to belittle her despite being the highest rank kunoichi of their class having moved up from two classes below to graduate early. "And I'm not the only one... Look at your precious Sasuke."

Doing as she said, Sakura turned to Sasuke and feeling faint... And it wasn't the normal woo that normally over came her when she saw him. She could see the utter fear building on his face. "We're going to fail... I'm not going to become a ninja... There is no way we can take this guy. My brother doubts he could!"

Beginning to realize that the jounin that just picked them was seriously a top grade shinobi, Sakura gulped but instead of letting the fear wash over her she pushed it down. "But we have to try... Don't we? It is just better then sitting here and just letting ourselves fail."

"But there is nothing we can do... What can we do again the most capable ninja of our village?" Kerlya commented, the fear overwhelming her as after hearing almost everything Hana knew about him... She could literally see the horrific outcome of her even challenging him would bring about.

"You two are impossible! It isn't like he would be going all out against a couple of gennin!" Sakura yelled out at the before growling out. "Fine... If neither of you are going to do anything... I go after him on my own!"

And with that, she ran into the forest.

* * *

Somewhat impressed as he looked on from the distance, Naruto couldn't believe out of all of them it was the supposed fan girl that had the will and desire left to break his killing intent. He figured that Sasuke and Kerlya knew too much about him and that was getting in their way and causing the fear.

Shrugging his shoulders as he would deal with the girl, moving tree to tree to cut her off. Despite wanting to find him, she had no clue where he was and was just guessing. Luckily enough, she at least spotted him as he landed and crouched on the branch before her. "Nice to see you here... Now let's see what you have."

Pushing the fear back as her knowledge of the Fourth and his jutsus came to mind and the gut feeling he knew the others outside of his legendary flash, Sakura drew forth shuriken from her pouch and hurled them towards Naruto. The blonde, however, simply held his left hand forward and caught each one and then flicked them back, barely trying in the process.

He was just glad that the girl was able to react to such a quick release and wasn't impaled by them, just rolling out of their way. Even then one caught the back of her knee and nicked it. Sakura hissed before drawing out a kunai and lunging out at Naruto. But once more it was for nothing as he easily caught her wrist and flicked her over his shoulder and tossed her into the ground below.

"Here's your first lesson and the most important aspect of being a ninja... Taijutsu." Naruto commented before he jumped down next to the crater Sakura was stepping out of. "Now let's try this again. Come at me with everything you've got."

Panting as she felt utterly humiliated from his counter, Sakura growled out and thrusted her kunai at the jounin but once more he caught her wrist. But this time he followed with a quick chop to her forearm which she immediately emitted a scream of pain and dropped the kunai before being pushed away.

Really glad that her arm wasn't broken, Sakura looked towards Naruto only to see him in a rather lax stance with his hands opened like claws and waiting for her to attack. He was just toying with her... And she wasn't sure there was anything she could do about it but she was going to be damned if she was going to take her lightly.

Easily pushing away each punch and stepping aside the kicks she threw in, Naruto was fed up after seeing enough and caught her ankle as she tried to kick him again roughly pull her into air. "You lack in refinement... You know how to throw a punch and are able to defend yourself but that is it. If you were to train more you could be much better then you are right now."

"I'm done with you." Tossing her aside, no longer caring, Naruto jumped up into the tree branches and vanished from sight.

* * *

After watching Sakura run off and into the forest, something snapped in her head. What was she doing sitting around and letting Haruno try to do something she was afraid of doing? She was an Inuzuka and, if nothing more, they were known for their brash actions and headstrong nature.

And here she was, letting fear engulf her while her other team mate had went off to face what had caused her fear in the first place.

Growling, not even paying attention to the frozen Uchiha next to her, Kerlya clinched her fists before rushing in the same direction she had seen Sakura head. There was no way she was going to let that girl say she did something that she could not.

But as soon as she entered the forest, she heard Sakura screaming out. She screeched to a halt, thinking twice about facing this jounin again, before she had to move as a kunai struck were she had been standing a second ago. However, to her horror it was the one kunai that no ninja wanted to see be used against them.

"Lesson number two..." Naruto commented as he stood directly behind Kerlya and maliciously grinned down at her as she turned to look at him. "Ninjutsu."

Watching as she yelled out as the earth literally wrapped around her and drug her into the ground and burying her up to her neck, Naruto sighed and simply shook his head. "Never give into the fear in battle... Or death is insured."

Turning from her, leaving her in the hole in the ground, Naruto only shook his head as he moved back into the clearing. After all hearing all the praises his brother said about him... Sasuke was severely disappointing him. The boy, in his opinion, was the weakest among the bunch.

"You are pathetic." Naruto commented as he stood directly behind Sasuke, a good five meters away. "I don't see why Itachi praises you like he does... I see nothing but a scared little kid that squandered the talent they do have. ...I can't see how he thought you could become stronger then even him."

Slowly turning to see the jounin standing behind him, Sasuke's eyes widened as he listened to what he had said. Itachi thought... He talked about him to others, telling them how proud he was of him? ...About how he thought that he had the potential to become stronger then even he was despite possessing the Eternal Mangekyou.

As his entire body began to tremble, Naruto could only deeply sigh. He had to guess Sasuke had been completely overwhelmed by his killing intent from before and he couldn't shake the fear of facing someone as strong as his brother. He was simply ready to bring the others in to tell them they failed...

"Katon: Gokakyu!"

A burst of thick flames scorched the ground before him but as it neared him, a small grin appeared on his face before he placed his hand before it. In the very next instant the flame dispersed, leaving Sasuke in surprised before he heard a crackle next to him and turned to see his own fireball bearing down onto him.

Jumping back, barely avoiding his own flames, he panted heavily before the hairs on his neck began to stand as Naruto appeared behind. "The third lesson... Genjutsu. I was never there in the first place."

Putting his into the Uchiha back and pushing him away, Naruto had to hide his grin as both Kerlya and Sakura ran up, ready for a second round. Checking the timer he brought with him, Naruto only nodded before he turned and grinned at them, beckoning them on. "There's six minutes left. Let's see if you can get those coins."

They each gave each other a quick glance and with a nod from all, Sasuke finished his seals before breathing out another burst of flames towards Naruto, who simply jumped up to avoid it.

Moving from side to side to avoid the shuriken from Sakura, Naruto suddenly found Kerlya above him with her transformed pup bearing down on him with their claws. Gripping the handle of his katana strapped to his back, two shockwaves burst before him and drove into both of their chests and knocked them away giving him a clear landing.

Or so he thought but Sasuke ran over to where he had landed and just before he landed, he began to assault him. But just like with Sakura, he easily batted his punches away with almost no effort and took a step back to avoid any kicks before he drove his fist into the boy's solar plexus.

As Sasuke fell to the ground in a coughing fit, Sakura quickly took up his slack and came at Naruto with kunai in hand. It seemed like it was before, but Naruto could see the difference in her plan now as she was only a distraction, feeling Kerlya and her pup twirling towards them with their Double Piercing Fang.

Grabbing her wrist once more, which made Sakura grimace as she knew this wasn't going to end well, he tossed the girl towards the two swirling fangs. Kerlya, however, had great control of hers and managed to avoid Sakura altogether but Naruto's scent had completely disappeared before she realized why and stopped spinning. "We were only fighting a clone!"

"Dead on." Naruto spoke before each of the three was hit in chest with a coin. "And now that it has been one hour... I guess I have to accept you as my gennin team. You've earned it as you did what you were suppose to... Work in unison as a team to beat a stronger foe."

Motioning them to follow till they were back at the wooden stumps, Naruto slid on the middle one. "I'm actually surprised... I was told by almost everyone that no team gets that the point is to work with one another. But there was a special circumstance to this... I was the jounin and at least two of you knew of me and what I'm capable of."

"But I'm disappointed it took you fifty minutes to come to that conclusion. Did you honestly think you could take those coins from me on your own? There is no one in this village that could possibly take them from me, excluding the Hokage and your brother Sasuke." Naruto belittled his team, mainly Sakura and Kerlya for thinking they had a shot against him.

"Be that as it may... You passed and you are my team. Any questions?" Naruto finished rather bored now that they weren't doing anything and he hated not doing anything and would rather answer any questions they had.

Raising her hand, which Naruto twitched at before motioning for her to go, Sakura asked what had been bugging her this entire time. "So wait... Are you saying that even though we passed the academy that if we failed this we wouldn't have become ninjas?"

"For a year at the very least... I would have just put you back in there to mature for another year. Most others... Yes. If they failed they would never become shinobi." Naruto admitted as he studied a little about the rules and such of being a jounin teacher.

"Why are we exceptions?" Sasuke stated, narrowing his eyes as he never liked being excluded from normal circumstances and wanted to be treated the same.

Simply shrugging his shoulders, Naruto gazed right at the boy. "Because it would be a waste to let each of your talents be squandered. If anything else, another year in the academy would have truly readied you to become the ninjas you can be. It would be a bad mark if we were to not allow such three possible forces from joining our ranks."

As Sasuke could only nod, feeling a little better about that, Kerlya frowned before she finally spoke. "I thought we were suppose to do a whole introduction thing before anything else..."

"I don't do things normally as it is boring. Besides, I know of all of you from your files and will learn everything else as we go... However, you are right about one thing... We tell each other who we are and what are dream for your future is." Naruto stated before nodding a little at the Inuzuka as that was normally true. "So you first."

Nervously twitching as she hadn't expected it to be turned on her like that, Kerlya almost bit her lip before hearing her pup yip. Smiling at him, she shook her head and felt a little better. "I'm Inuzuka Kerlya and my dream... I dream of becoming a great kunoichi the likes of Senju Tsunade."

"Good." Naruto commented as that was to be expect, being a normal goal from what he heard of other senseis. "You're next Uchiha."

"Uchiha Sasuke... I want to surpass my brother and to rebuild my clan to heights it has never seen before." Sasuke easily said as it was no dream for him... It would be reality.

Figuring as much, as that was mostly Itachi's goal with the addition killing Madara, Naruto turned to Sakura. "You're up next and then I will go."

Fidgeting a little, not liking that she was going right after Sasuke and before their sensei, Sakura took a deep breath and hoped this came out right. "I'm Haruno Sakura. ...My dream is to become a medical ninja as I want to help people. So that that maybe one day I can atone for my mother's sins."

Of all things he expected to hear from her, that was the very last thing Naruto ever thought he would hear from the daughter of that women. His face fell as he looked at her, feeling a small pang of sympathy for her, he closed his eyes. "Those are noble goals... Each of you truly have the right mind set, you just need assistance to get there."

"As for me... I am Namikaze-Mitrashi Naruto. ...And unlike you I don't really have a dream. It is more of a nindo." Naruto continued before taking a deep breath. "To keep those that I care for safe and never let them be harmed by those that seek to do so while making sure to never lose control of myself again."

"You three now fall into that category as you are my team and team is like family." Naruto stated before drawing forth three of his special kunai and handing it to each of them. "If there is anything that you need or if you need to talk to me, just use that and I will be there."

"Alright... You're dismissed. Go home and get some rest as tomorrow we'll start training to make those dreams of your become reality." Naruto finished before dispersing in a flicker of light.

* * *

**A/N**: Sorry that this took so long, but I had some trouble writing and I just couldn't seem, and still can't, to continue working on one story without jumping to another the next day. Still, I hope you enjoyed it and if you have any questions about this chapter leave a review and I'll get back to you.

Peace Out.


	13. You've Got to Be Kidding!

**Note**: Just for the record, Kerlya is pronounced the same as the Pokemon Kirlia. I just wanted to see how many people would catch that and no one did… I'm so disappointed.

* * *

"This has got to be the most boring mission ever…" Sasuke groaned as this chore of a job they were given was grating his nerves and he felt ready to snap.

"Oh quit complaining… It's good break from our normal training. I like going home and not to the hospital." Kerlya hummed as she had no problem with this mission as she found it quite relaxing and the smell was absolutely wonderful.

"Besides, at least we are being paid for this better then those other D-rank missions." Sakura commented as she plucked a weed from the Yamanaka's garden, having no problem with this as she did this a lot during her early years in the academy's preschool. "And I think our team work is getting better from doing this as we've been working together to finish."

"That's the point." Naruto commented as he stood back and watched his team do the job, being rather bored with it but he felt a lot better as he watched them, glad he wasn't the one that had to pull out the damn weeds. "Now don't forget that we still have training after this, however."

All three momentarily stopped and looked at one another as they shivered at the thought of going through another torture session with their blonde devil of a sensei. They quickly came up with a plan to lengthen their stay at the garden so they wouldn't have to go through it today.

Naruto knew exactly what was going through their heads as he grinned before he started whirling his special kunai around his finger. "And don't think you can get out of it. The more time you spend here the longer and more strenuous it will become. So I would finish soon as I'm tacking on extra time for each minute it takes you to finish starting now."

Biting his lip to keep from laughing as they began to work in unison, almost as if they were one person, to quickly finish as they didn't want any overtime in their training sessions, Naruto only shook his team. If there was one thing to motivate them…

* * *

"Wait, what?" Kurenai growled as she stood in front of the Hokage, somewhat annoyed at his response. "What do you mean that we can't take the mission? I thought now with more missions coming in that gennin teams could take C-rank missions as long as their jounin sensei was with them!"

Sighing as this was going to be a long day, as he could understand why Kurenai thought her team was ready to join the gennin squads allowed to perform C-rank missions, Sarutobi caught her gaze. "They are… But you of all people should know why I'm still hesitant to allow gennin to perform C-rank missions."

"Yes I know that but I also know that you set aside two to three missions that are considered low classed and barely worth the C-rank for gennin every month. I just would like to know why my squad cannot perform such a mission as they are more then capable of handling it." Kurenai asked as she was sure the Third had his reasons but she at least wanted to know why.

Shaking his head, understanding she truly believed in her unit, the Hokage shifted his attention to the mission he had taken from the batch. "I've already sent one gennin team out this month so I have only one other left… But this one now looks to be serious trouble from what our scouts have found out and could be upgraded…"

"However to keep that from happening I need a jounin… A very particular jounin to take part of this mission in case if this is to happen." Sarutobi explained before he revealed another scroll that was filled with the information that his scouts had dug up from the area.

As Kurenai took it and began to read over it, as it now had become common for all missions to be checked on, she kept her composure before her eyes narrowed as she looked at the Hokage and handed the scroll back. "Why would you keep such as a C-rank mission when you know it to be higher?"

"Because the gennin will not be exposed to the danger… They will only know it is there and as such this mission will stay C-rank as my top jounin will take this mission." Sarutobi retorted just as the door opened and his gaze turned to the one that entered.

"Naruto, I have a mission for you and your team to take."

* * *

"Hey Sakura!" Ino called out to her friend and rival, noticing that she was actually within the town square for once and not at home or dragging her way back there from training. "It's been a while since you've been here! Come join me for lunch!"

Seeing Ino run over towards her, a Sakura smiled ever so slightly as she was still very tired and she had hoped to spend most of the day sleeping to recover from her insane sensei's version of taijutsu lessons. "Sure… I'm still kind of sore and sensei gave us the day off… Finally."

"Great! The other girls are here too!" Ino happily commented as she led Sakura over to their table, revealing that Hinata, Kerlya and another girl she didn't know was there. "Oh, and this is Tenten. I met her a last week on one of those D-rank missions and heard she was a gennin like us."

"Nice to meet you." Sakura lightly nodded at the bun haired girl before she slumped into the chair and turned over to her team mate. "I thought you were suppose to be sleeping in too."

"I wanted to but I have a feeling sensei made sure you woke up earlier then you wanted to." Kerlya growled as she was rather pissed as she really wanted to rest more then she did. "But on the bright side… I'm getting treated to a free meal so I don't care about it as much."

"Sounds like you two are getting run ragged." Tenten stated as she could see both girls were worn down and was mentally smirking as whoever their sensei was she liked them as the more serious kunoichi the better. "You'll get use to it. At first we thought our sensei's training was going to break us but once we got use to it everything was better… As we got use to his insane methodologies."

Sakura could only nod as she was beginning to become less tired after each exercise. It was truly a miracle as a month ago she would have not believed she could go through some of the lessons, as Naruto called them. "Yeah… But this is our first break since we became gennin a little over a month ago."

Listening to Sakura, frowning a little as it seemed her training was over the top, Ino had to pitch in. "Wow… Asuma is really lenient with my team. He mostly goes over with strategies and if not we normally have both a mission and a chakra control exercises after. …Currently we're doing tree climbing."

"He's probably expecting you to go out and train on your own like Master Gai expects us to do now. So any free time he gives you were you aren't tired I would I would use it wisely. …I'm not saying getting together with your friends isn't a good thing to do but training is rather important now that we are ninjas." Tenten responded as out of all of them there she could tell Ino trained the least among them.

Ino looked indignant at first but didn't verbally respond as she could see her elder kunoichi had a point. However, turning to Hinata as she had been oddly quite, something the Hyuuga heiress always seemed to be whenever she got her involved in her little groups, she focused the attention on her. "Hinata, don't you have something to say?"

Not really wanting to say something, as she wasn't comfortable in such a group, Hinata at least felt a little better that they were talking about training. As that eased her burden a little, she softly spoke. "Not really… Kurenai usually trains us one at a time after a mission and some team training but she makes sure we don't overexert ourselves so we can train on our own later in the day."

"We're lucky if we do…" Kerlya softly growled as Naruto worked them into the ground day in and day out. "If we get any rest it is normally in the hospital or in our parent's care… I've been burned on seven different occasions not to mention cut up and bruised almost every single day, Sakura has had a few broken bones and Sasuke had a panic attack or two from one of sensei's genjutsus. …He's the best out of all of us as right now Naruto had been instructing him on genjutsu."

Tenten narrowed her eyes as she recognized that name very well and knew who he was. The fact that he was their sensei… That was unfair in her mind. She had always wanted to learn underneath one of the living legends and the fact that both of these girls had him for a sensei made her extremely jealous.

"Had been?" Ino tilted her head as they made it seem like he had changed… But she was more interested in Sasuke as she hadn't seen him since they graduated. "And how has Sasuke been doing… I'm still pissed that both of you got on his team instead of me."

As Kerlya rolled her eyes at the blonde, not even caring about how crazy in love she was with the Uchiha, Sakura sighed and answered for her. "He's handling the training better then we are but I think that was because he had the easiest of the cycle this month… He's now going to be moving into hand-to-hand as I'm going to ninjutsu training and Kerlya works in genjutsu. He also makes us spar one another every week."

"That's not fair. Sasuke is so much better… Hinata? Tenten? What's wrong?" Ino started going into her Sasuke crazed state when she noticed both girls freeze as they looked at something directly behind her.

So turning to see what it was, she almost gasped as there was Sasuke with a blonde around his age. However, before anything happened Sakura turned and waved at the two, who seemed oblivious to them as they entered. "Hey sensei… Please don't tell me you didn't cancel our day off."

"I'm not that cruel." Naruto twitched as he noted both Sakura and Kerlya in the group of girls before shrugging as he did force them to wake up early today. "No… I was just heading here to get some food and he followed… Something about wanting to train I believe. I don't know as it's my day off to."

"You're an ass." Sasuke growled at Naruto as he had been asking why they couldn't train today and now the blonde finally gave him the reason why he was blowing him off.

"Probably." Naruto simply answered before he took the table next to the girls and simply glanced at Sasuke, which counted as an order in the Uchiha's mind, and forced him to sit down.

As Sasuke made sure to sit where he could keep his eyes on Ino, not trusting her in the least, Naruto shook his head and leaned back in his chair and stayed silent, waiting for his dinner date to arrive. This in turn made Sasuke further nervous as he at least wanted something to distract him from Ino.

However, Ino did that form him as she suddenly pointed at Naruto in shock. "I remember! You were that kid my age that was a gennin a few years back! You're a jounin sensei already!"

Raising his eyebrow at the girl, Naruto turned to Sasuke and back at her for a moment. Then finally he looked down at the table and sighed loudly. "I'm beginning to understand why you hate fan girls… They have no brain."

"I told you… They are like zombies but instead of my brain they want… Something else." Sasuke added onto his sensei's comment before shivering as he was still a little too young to be thinking about stuff like that. "At least Sakura isn't one anymore…"

"That's because I don't have the energy to even care." Sakura responded in an apathetic tone as she really didn't care that much any longer even if she thought Sasuke was still good looking. "Why are you here, sensei? I thought you only ate at Ichiraku's Ramen Shop."

Thankfully he didn't have to answer as one of the reasons he was there entered and immediately slid in next to him. "Sorry I'm late… Anko had me sit on an interrogation with Ibiki and the guy wasn't cooperating very well. …Why are you sitting next to all these girls? Oh, hey Kerlya, Sakura."

"Oh… Hello Miss Nii." Sakura responded with a slight smile as every now and then she took Naruto's place as their sensei on a few occasions as he had a mission he had to take care of every now and then being the Prince of Konoha. "I take it if you're here that means you'll be our sensei tomorrow."

"Kind of. Naruto should explain though as it deals with you." Yugito tilted her head as she looked over at Naruto for a moment before shaking her head as he simply yawned.

"We'll be taking a C-rank guarding mission tomorrow to the Wave Country." Naruto simply stated as there was nothing to it and wondered why Yugito simply couldn't say it. "She will be joining us to take over my role as your sensei as I have a higher rank mission to deal with once we arrive."

"Wait… We're going on a C-rank mission?" Kerlya said in surprise as she had heard it would take months of training to be let out on such a mission as gennin still weren't let out of the village that often as Konoha was still looking to better their reputation with their clients.

"About time… It seems our economy has finally recovered from the drop out six years ago." Sasuke commented with a small smirk as his team would be the first let out of the village out of all the rookies before frowning at Naruto. "But what this about you having another mission?"

Naruto only shrugged as the waitress came by and took their orders and once she left he finally decided to respond. "It is a situational mission at best as it very well may not happen in my presence. Yugito is coming along just for security reasons as it is frowned upon to leave gennin unattended outside of the village since it is not war time."

"That all there is so just have your things ready and packed and be at the mission room by ten. So enjoy the rest of your day off." Yugito finished after a long pause realized Naruto wasn't going to say anything more as he figured is team would know the routine despite only being gennin.

However, Naruto was getting slightly unnerved as the gennin who he knew to be Gai's was just staring at him. It was rather odd as she wasn't giving him a look of contempt or anything like that… In fact the look seemed to be more like the one's Sasuke's fan girls gave him…

As Naruto shivered at that though, Yugito could only grin as her fellow vessel hadn't realized that he had been gaining a fan club over the recent years. She was glad that it seemed that at least some of the hatred had died down once it was learned he was the Fourth's son. The only problem was some of those girls were extremely ravenous and if they dared hurt him…

Before they knew it, Tenten was at Naruto's side still staring at him. This made Naruto very, very uncomfortable as he had been trying to ignore her look and now that she was right upon him he was unsure how to react. Finally he decided to call her out on it. "May I help you?"

Tenten's gaze did not die as she continued to gaze at him and Naruto was ready to put her in a genjutsu as he couldn't handle this for much longer. However of all things to happen… Something he had not expected did.

"MAY I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH?" Tenten squealed like on of Sasuke's many fan girls as she held out a small notebook and pen towards the blonde.

Naruto immediately fell out of his chair soon after her exclamation.

* * *

"Ah Naruto… Right on time." Sarutobi beckoned his young jounin and his gennin into the mission room, sitting in the middle and most luxurious chair while Iruka and Itachi sat at his sides, one doing his job with flare while the other was pissed at his temporary demotion.

Naruto couldn't help but make fun of this even if his outward appearance didn't change in the slightest as he pointed over towards another stack towering just behind the table. "Better hurry up. You don't want that thing getting any larger."

"Fuck you Naruto." Itachi growled at the blonde as this work was demeaning of his status. He was the head of the Uchiha clan and one of the strongest shinobi in Konoha as once again he wasn't interested in fighting Naruto for that title. "Unless you know of a way to make this go by any easier… You fucking do don't you!"

Only grinning at Itachi's accusation, Naruto said nothing as he turned his attention back onto the Hokage and lightly bowed. "We're here to pick up our client for our C-rank mission to the Wave."

Ignoring the fumes coming from Itachi's temples as well, Sarutobi simply nodded as he turned to Iruka. "Could you go get Tazuna for me and tell him his ninjas are ready?"

Iruka only nodded as he wasn't going to even question if Naruto's team was ready for a C-rank mission. He knew of the skill he possessed and just from first glance at the three behind him he could almost see how much stronger they had become and he was quite sure Sakura didn't have those kind of muscles when he last saw her.

Besides her, Sasuke was doing his absolute best not to laugh at his fuming brother. He never thought he would see him get so angry and it was just because of a bunch of papers and Naruto knowing how to make his job easier and not telling him. Needless to say he was having problems as his blood was leaking from the corner of his lip.

Of course Itachi caught this and was ready to lash out at his younger brother when Sasuke finally decided to ail his brother's misery. "Why don't you just use those clones? Naruto uses them all the time and never complains about any of the papers he has to fill out."

Turning back to Naruto, Itachi twitched as he felt like putting the blonde in Tsukiyomi despite his neutral expression. He could have just told him that but no he had to kick him while he was down. "I hate you. …I really do. You are the greatest asshole in Konoha that no one knows about."

"Probably." Naruto responded once more, making Sasuke look at him and wonder if this was a normal occurrence with those who were close with his sensei.

Just at that moment Iruka opened the door and was followed by Tazuna, who now was looking oddly at the four shinobi assembled before him. After examining them thoroughly, or as best as drunkenly possible, he finally commented on what he saw to the Hokage. "What the hell? You are sending four pipsqueaks with me! I thought I told you this was serious!"

"Did he just insult us?" Kerlya growled as there were many things she could put up with but being insult to her face was not one of them, a trait her entire clan shared.

Simply popping her knuckles, wearing a pair of fingerless gloves Naruto had given her, Sakura was also pissed. However before anything bad could happen, Naruto stood before him as he was use to this sort of treatment due to his age. "I would encourage you not to insult my gennin again. They are all very capable and can easily deal with any threats we may deal with and if they can not, I am a jounin."

Tazuna blinked for a moment as it took that long for what he had said to sink in. Then he looked at the young boy in shock. "You are a jounin? You don't look much older then they are… And you are shorter then them."

Naruto twitched as this was something he had not noticed before. Sasuke was easily taller then he was by an inch or two and he realized the only reason he was Sakura's height was because of his hair. And he twitched even more as he heard the Hokage and Itachi snickering to themselves and vowed vengeance upon them. This was another reason why he didn't want to become a jounin sensei!

Gnashing his teeth together and taking a few breathes to keep his anger from rising any further, Naruto simply glared at the elderly man. "My size nor age have anything to deal with my skills. We are the best you are being offer so you should be thankful…"

"It isn't often that the Prince of Konoha is sent on such low rank missions." Itachi finished for him and grinned as he got back at Naruto and didn't care that the blonde would pay him back two fold. At the moment it was worth it.

Glaring dagger back at the onyx haired Uchiha, Naruto almost groaned as Tazuna's eyes widened as that name was very well known through the entire continent. "You're kidding me! This kid… Is the Prince?"

"I would like it if you not referred to me in such a manner… We'll be heading out soon." Naruto commented as he reeled in his overflowing anger and schooled his face back to its near emotionless norm as he turned to his gennin. "Go the gate; Yugito should already be there… We need to speak to Tazuna before we head out."

While the three looked towards their sensei for a moment each nodded as they had packed their things before hand and were carrying them on their person… Each was glad the first thing they were taught was how to use storage scrolls.

Soon as they left, Naruto's gaze turned to Tazuna but stayed silent as the Hokage sighed lightly before speaking. "Tazuna… We know this mission is higher rated then you say it is. …However, we still will accept it as our scouts have stated how desperately your country needs that bridge as you barely have enough money for even this."

As Tazuna looked at them in slight fear at being discovered and even more awe that they weren't canceling this mission. "I have sent Naruto out with you along with a jounin of his choice as he will be assigned to assassinate Gato to free your land from his tyranny but in return for this we would like to set up a trading agreement in the future. Is this acceptable?"

"Yes! Yes!" Tazuna eagerly accepted the generosity that the Hokage was showing despite not being able to gain much as of the moment. "As soon as we recover we will do anything that can help, open trade and allow you access to…"

Silencing the hysterical man, Hizuren softly smiled as it always felt good to help those in need. "I understand. This village was sunk into darkness not too long ago so I know all too well how you and your people feel. We will help you so when you return tell your Lord of the chunin exams in three months. We'll discuss the arrangements then."

Standing at attention, Tazuna could simply nod as he couldn't trust his mouth any longer. He was filled with hope and felt he made the right choice in choosing Konoha over the closer nations.

Simply glancing at the Hokage, Naruto nodded as well before he moved over to Tazuna and motioned him to follow. "Alright, let's get going. There is work to be done."

Once more the man could only nod as he followed the blonde haired boy out of the room. Not only had Konoha accepted his mission despite knowing what it detailed… They sent _the _Prince of Konoha to bring freedom to their land.

* * *

"So… This mission is going to be a little more difficult then a normal C-rank?" Sakura quivered as Naruto explained the details to them as they were on the road.

She was a little afraid, she had to admit. Being told that they honestly were probably going to be partaking in a B-rank were they could run into chunin level opposition was a little frightening despite she knew that Naruto and Yugito would handle such a threat. However being informed that there might be jounin that they come across…

"Sakura." Sasuke spoke as he noticed that she didn't seem as confident as she had been of lately. "You need not worry about any of this. Our mission is still C-rank while theirs is B to A rank. We will not be expose to anything higher then bandits and gennin, maybe a weak chunin. The three of us together should easily be able to handle such a threat."

"Yeah… And besides, almost every other nation has given a flee on sight order if they run into sensei. I doubt any ninja that has access to a bingo book will overlook that detail." Kerlya added to help boost Sakura's confidence as she happened to admit she was a little scared they were given such a mission but with Naruto around she felt secured about it.

"But you must know there are those that will ignore it despite the warning… As they are desperate enough that not even death will deter them from their mission… It is very likely we will have to take care of at least one of them as a man like Gato wouldn't just contact a shinobi village and ask for help." Yugito explained, still feeling a little awkward about having to wear normal clothing instead of her Anbu attire for such a mission.

"He has more then likely hired missing ninja as they are cheaper and much easier to deal with as most have abandoned their morals as they have to constantly live on the run and scrape by on the bare minimum." Naruto added on to keep his gennin and Tazuna aware of the situation.

However Yugito immediately picked up onto this as she knew Naruto wouldn't say anything about this unless he could feel someone within striking range. What didn't help was that he was very difficult to read and as such she couldn't truly gauge the level of the threat. But she quickly caught a puddle just in the distance before she rolled her eyes.

The three also noted it as they came closer upon it. Sakura acted like she saw nothing, too busy gazing at the scenery. Sasuke didn't look any different then usual while Kerlya had to repress a growl as the two in the genjutsu stunk to high heaven. She also had to keep Ralts calm as he smelt them as well.

Finally both rose from the water after they had passed and pulled out their chain, ready to cut down the first in their path. That happened to be Naruto and as they neared him, the blonde didn't even react and simply closed his eyes as it was merely inches from cutting into his flesh.

At that very moment a kunai was driven into the chain and pinned it to the ground. "You're reaction time is slow, Sasuke. You should have had it pinned a full second ago."

"Sorry… I'm just a little excited." Sasuke grinned before he drew forth a scroll and was ready to draw a weapon from it. "I finally get to see how I compare to ninja on the outside…"

"You're too late then… Yugito's already handled it." Naruto spoke as he went through a few hand seals while blood began to spill from their collar bones before the two hit their knees. The very next moment the earth around them wrapped them into a firm cocoon and held them back to back.

Checking on the one to the left as Yugito did the same on the right, Naruto shook his head as he looked at the stunned face of Sasuke. "As I said before… We will not expose you to a threat greater then a gennin. These guys were chunin and could have torn you apart if given the chance. You may be skilled… But as of right now these guys are still much better then you are at this moment."

"Fine…" Sasuke only grunted as pulled free his kunai as he understood that even if he didn't like it. That was one thing Naruto had forced down his throat as he wasn't going to always be superior to his opponent. Not to mention in his last spar he barely managed to beat Sakura as she had pounded him in close range…

As Sasuke shook that from his mind, Naruto turned to Yugito and with that one glance he turned from her and to his team. "Let's keep going. Yugito will catch up to us later."

"Wait, why is she… Oh." Kerlya started before it dawned onto her way Yugito would stay behind before remembering during their introduction a couple weeks ago that she specialized in taijutsu and interrogation.

It took a moment for both Sakura and Sasuke to realize it as well, the former flinching at the thought while the latter only shook his head knowing it was a part of the life he had chosen before he turned to his two team mates. "Alright… Kerlya take point and alert us if something changes in the smell. Sakura stay next to Tazuna with sensei and I'll take the rear and cover our asses."

Smirking as both did as they were told, Naruto moved to Tazuna's other side and gave Sasuke a slight glance. His lessons were finally starting to pay off and he was taking the role he was meant for in their unit and understood the others roles as well.

Now if he could just beat out the superiority complex that the academy _blessed _him with. Something told him that would still take more time.

* * *

It didn't take long for Yugito to catch up with them and it was nearing night time. Naruto, however, refused to call it a night after hearing it was only a few more miles to their destination.

Needless to say he wasn't very well liked at the exact moment. "Sensei… Why in the hell didn't we just set up camp? It's almost midnight, I can't smell anything because of this damn mist and not to mention something just doesn't feel right."

"That's because we're being hunted, Kerlya." Sasuke commented for Naruto as with his one tomoe Sharingan could see that there was a light haze of chakra within the mist. "This mist isn't natural either… There's chakra within it."

Tazuna gulped as he didn't like the sound of that. That meant there was going to be another ninja attacking them and they were only half a mile from his home. Fear began to envelop him thinking that Gato might have done something to his family and with that thought in mind he began to quicken his pace.

Placing her hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look over at her, Yugito only shook her head and looked into his eyes to convey her message. "Stay calm. The worst thing you can do right now is break rank and make yourself an easy target. I'm sure your family is safe."

Tazuna slowly began to calm and keep pace with the rest while Naruto simply had to wonder what it was about a woman's eyes that seemed to calm people down in tense situations as he seen Anko do the same and she had learned that from Kurenai.

Shaking his head of that thought, Naruto closed his eyes to keep his focus on reining in his chakra to allow him to sense the chakra signatures around him with more ease. The first thing he noted was that the mist was slowly weakening and kept from interfering with his senses. He then quickly found his gennin were showing signs of anxiety from how restless their signatures were but something odd caught his attention.

The two he knew had been within a couple hundred meters within their position had suddenly vanished and replaced by two more potent… His eyes widened for a moment realizing what they had done, his eyes snapped open before he ran before Tazuna as he let Yugito take his place once she returned. "Encircle Tazuna now! Our enemy is at seven and twelve o'clock!"

Sakura didn't have to do much as she was already in her spot for the most part. Sasuke simply followed Naruto and took his spot and turned around to watch the rear. Kerlya, however, didn't get any chance to react as she was too far ahead and a shadowy figured formed behind her.

She had already been a little fearful before as she could sense something was wrong but now… She broke out in a cold sweat and the hair on her neck stood up as a cold shiver traveled down her back, freezing her. Her breath became ragged as it felt the temperature around her suddenly dropped as she turned to see the said dark figured behind her.

But in that exact moment there was a clang of metal as Naruto stood before her with his katana in hand, holding off what seemed to be a triple bladed scythe that was only an inch from cutting his face. At that moment she felt relieved only for it to immediately drain as she could see him snarling at his opponent and his eyes visibly darken.

"Kerlya…" Naruto growled out as he gazed into the man's eyes before him before he pushed him back and gripped her shoulder.

In the very next moment they were besides Tazuna and Naruto dropped the Inuzuka onto her bottom. "Sasuke, take the girls and Tazuna to his house… These guys aren't here for Tazuna. They're here for me and Yugito."

"Actually… We're here for both." Another dark figured emerged from the point Naruto said the other had was. "We're being given a pretty hefty reward for his head and as you know… We want you for your demons, nine tail vessel."

Yugito froze at the voice as she remembered it all too well. It was the voice of her attackers all those years back and the main cause for her nightmares. And despite all the training she had underwent… She was still afraid of these two. "No… Not you."

"It is girl." The first figure said as his image became visible, his silver hair glittering within the moon light before he knelt down and held onto his pendent. "Lord Jashin, let this job be done quickly and with much blood shed for none of these ignorant fools will see the truth that you are the one true god."

Releasing his pendent, Hidan stood before them with his scythe in hand and a wicked smirk as the mist around him began to dissipate. "Sorry for the delay, but my Lord requires prayer before every battle. I plead for death, but no matter what is done I stand alone… I hope one of you can finally deliver me into sweet oblivion!"

* * *

**A/N**: This was a radical change for me but I have been thinking about it recently and decided to go with it as it seemed to be for the best. And if you are wondering about Haku and Zabuza, stay tuned as that will be explained as why the Demon Brother's still attacked.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as it was rather fun for me to write, something that has been lacking of lately. If you have any questions about this chapter or the story as a whole just drop a review and I'll get back to you.

Peace Out.


	14. Step Up

**A/N**: Okay, this is just a warning really. There is a lot of information in this chapter and it is long chapter for this particular story as I didn't feel like chopping this one up and in size… It is more worthy of a Troublesome chapter(if I would ever finish the other half of chapter four). And there is going to be a few surprises, for some maybe, and a lot of mood swings so be prepared.

* * *

Of all the times for the Akatsuki to come for them… This was the worst case scenario in Naruto's mind but it was one that he knew could very well happen.

His gennin were completely useless in this fight outside of sticking with Tazuna and even then the protection they could provide him was pathetic at best. The best thing they could do would be to take Tazuna away from the fight once he and Yugito had them distracted…

Now came the second and greater problem… Yugito was afraid of these two and he knew why. They were the ones that nearly caught her four years previous and left a deep scar on her from their last encounter. That said scar unfortunately was arising as his fellow vessel looked petrified at the sight of the two.

And finally the worse of these problems was that these two would be very hard to take care of as Inoichi gathered data on the two from Yugito's mind. Hidan seemed to be immortal though at least he wasn't invulnerable and Kakuzu seemed to be invulnerable and immortal as he was rather old when he fought the Shodaime and nothing Yugito did to him harmed him in the least.

Things were not looking up for Namikaze-Mitrashi Naruto at the exact moment.

However as of right now the perfect defense employed as he stuck a kunai in the middle of the formation so if they got within ten meters around him he could strike them easily and possibly put them out of commission. The problem was that Kakuzu was a ranged fighter from Inoishi's data and Hidan couldn't be put out of commission even if his heart was ripped out.

Drawing forth another special kunai while keeping his katana in his dominant hand, Naruto simply gazed at Yugito before whispering to Sasuke. "I'm going to take care of these goes. Try to get everyone else out of here but keep that kunai with you and keep sticking it every few moments."

Sasuke could only nod at what he said before reality hit him. Why was he in charge and not Yugito if sensei was going to take care of these guys?

Turning his gaze to Yugito, his eyes narrowed seeing how stiff she was and the fear that was emanating off of her. She was an experienced jounin and no reason to freeze in the middle of battle unless… He gulped… Unless she had faced them before and they had done something rather ominous before her or to her.

Nonetheless, keeping his composure, he turned his attention back onto his job now. He believed that they would be fine as with Naruto there and defending them they should be alright. If there was anyone outside of his brother and mother that he truly had faith in it would be his sensei.

Hidan struck at that moment and came charging in, hitting the ten meter mark. At the very moment Naruto flickered behind with his katana drawn and slashing to his spine to take care of him immediately. But to his misfortune it seemed Hidan was informed of him and knew the attack was coming… Somewhat.

The blade still ripped through his spinal cord… But barely as it had only grazed it. But that didn't matter Hidan rolled out of the ten meter range and cursed. "That was too damn close! Kakuzu where the fuck is your cover fire you asshole?"

"I thought it would be amusing to see you sweat." Kakuzu grinned as he absently wanted to see Hidan get hurt for a moment until he saw the flash. "But now we have to take this seriously… Remember the two tail is our number one priority before the nine tail or the bridge builder."

"I fucking know that! Just cover me while I try to get to her!" Hidan yelled out at his partner, somewhat pissed that he was left out to dry on that last attack before realizing that another kunai had just struck the ground right between his legs. "Son of a bitch!"

Hidan wasn't as lucky this time as Naruto flickered to his side and cut down and through his right arm, severing it. Still being in the range of that said kunai, it wasn't worth it to recover his arm at the moment so instead he swung his scythe towards the blonde only for him to flicker out of existence once more.

This time Kakuzu covered him and a stream of blazing fire… Engulfed both him and where Naruto had flashed into existence.

Cutting the flames from his clothing and rolling on the dirt, Naruto growled as it seemed Kakuzu was timing him for his flashes and he got a shot in with a rather wide spread flame as he couldn't predict exactly where he would appear. However in the same time he hit his partner…

"Kakuzu you asshole! You nearly burned my ass off!" Hidan screamed as he patted the fire from his tattering cloak, glaring at his partner in crime and was ready just to go after him as this was becoming a rather annoying trend. "I swear to Jashin if you hit me again I'm coming after you! Then you will see who is truly immortal!"

"Then stop getting in my way you freak. I don't have the time to redirect my fire." Kakuzu calmly replied, not caring if he was just as much of a freak as Hidan if not a little more.

Hidan called him out on this as they both really didn't like each other that much. "Oh look who's talking! You have that damn… Fucker stop distracting me!"

At the end of that statement Naruto had flashed before Hidan ready to behead him as this was getting a little weird for him. Sure, the two before him had some kind of comradely but this was rather annoying. Arguing in the middle of battle was the stupidest thing he had ever seen, even if these guys very well were immortal.

This time Hidan seemed to be expecting the frontal strike and had swung down to meet him and stop his katana's stroke. However, Naruto only grinned before he simply turned his foot and just disappeared much to the surprise of the two of the Akatsuki. In that very moment a kunai struck before Kakuzu.

"Shit."

Naruto flashed just above Kakuzu but to the blonde's surprise as strings shot out from his body and wrapped around his katana just as he moved to dodge. With one tug of his arm, which the strings were attacked to, he pulled the weapon from the prince before a mask shot out from behind him and two bolts of lighting came from the mouth.

Not bothering with Hiraishin this time, Naruto rolled his body in mid air and slipped between the two bolts as he went through a series of fast hand seals. Soon as he hit the ground, his hands smashed into the ground and it turned into a thick goop that pulled onto Kakuzu's feet and made it very difficult form him to get out.

This wasn't good for him but his partner came to his rescue as Hidan had gone after the bridge builder and Yugito with Naruto distracted with him. However it didn't seem he noticed as he began another set of seals and the wind behind was swirling behind him and began to take the shape… Of a dragon?

"Katon: Gokakyu!" Sasuke unleashed a furious burst of flames towards the incoming scythe wielder but to his horror the man simply ran through it like it was nothing and was upon him in an instant…

And in that instant the scythe was stopped as someone had grabbed the hilt followed by a very, very loud hiss. "Get the fuck away from them!"

Hidan wished he didn't chain his scythe to his wrist when she flung it back. It pulled out of his grip but since it was connected to his wrist his arm was pulled rather viciously but it didn't just stop there. There was so much force that he was dragged back as he had those chains custom made to withstand great force and this wasn't enough to break them. His shoulder on the other hand…

"You damn bitch! That fucking hurt!" Hidan screamed out as now not only was he missing an arm, his other arm was dislocated and virtually useless at the moment. "Kakuzu, attach my other arm already dammit! This is getting out of hand as she's fighting back!"

"I have my own problems here!" Kakuzu screamed out as he barely managed to avoid the dragon of pure wind that was barreling down upon him, just breaking free from the sticky goo once he realized increasing the heat hardened it and made it easier to escape.

Landing next to Hidan, who picked up his arm, only just to avoid Naruto's flash and kunai for his skull. It instead gashed his leg and made the man curse more. "Dammit! I knew we shouldn't have been assigned for her any longer! Along as he is around only that bitch only the leader can deal with him!"

"To be fair you should have a chance. After all you are always going on about not being able to die. You should just turn this into a war of attrition." Kakuzu grinned underneath his mask as he had to get another jab in at his partner.

"Shut the hell up and let's get out of here unless you just want to die! Even if I can't die, I don't want to deal with this punk kid any more!" Hidan lashed out as his partner as he was getting tired of being dismembered, dislocated and having to deal with the damn flash!

As much as Kakuzu hated to agree with his partner, fleeing was their only choice with the nine tail vessel involved. They were pushing their luck coming after Yugito with him present in the first place but it still was worth it even if they were only being used as scouts. "Fine… But remember this vessels… Next time it won't be us coming for you."

The two dispersed in a swirl just before Naruto could get another kunai to them as that was the one flaw of the flash. In combat it was difficult for him to unleash more then one to two at a time with them being accurate and if his opponent was skilled, and lucky, enough they could dodge his attack. Unfortunately it seemed those two had luck and a little more on there side.

"Shit!" Naruto cursed as he wanted to dispose of them as they would now become scouts for the rest of the Akatsuki and inform them of one of the few flaws to the Flying Thunder God. "Let's go… They won't be coming back again."

While Tazuna seemed relieved at that, and surprised how easily Naruto was controlling the match against them until he let Hidan on his own, the old man took the lead. "My house isn't too much further from here."

* * *

"Fuck!" Naruto ranted just outside the house as he was still too angry at having the two Akatsuki members having escape his clutches. "Once they inform the others those damn bastards will begin to create counter strategies for the flash and make it even harder for me to take care of them!"

Yugito stayed quiet as she felt she was partially responsible for the problem at hand. She had followed Naruto out after setting up a perimeter at Tazuna's place and having Sasuke stay up for first shift as it might be a few hours before they came back. Still she had a kunai set up so Naruto could flash to them if there were any problems.

Continuing to watch him pace, his anger not decreasing in the slightest as he was going over how to rectify his own problems with the flash, Yugito closed her eyes and broke the silence. "I'm sorry…"

This quickly brought Naruto out of his rage and his gaze to Yugito when he heard her. He knew what she meant by that as both she, Anko and Kakashi were normally his spotters in battle and used his kunai so that he didn't have to be the one to throw them. And since she froze until Hidan had endangered his gennin she caused him to be somewhat ineffective.

However that was not the problem as those two could take damage, survive practically anything he did to them and then escape. They unfortunately happened to be the perfect scouts against him as they could last a little while against him and the flash and not die.

"It… It isn't all yours fault… I am to blame as well." Naruto finally said as his anger seemed to drain as he looked up into the night sky. "I knew whenever we ran into those two that you would freeze after what they did to you… We all knew that. I had just wished it was our squad that had run into them as we would have been able to stop them."

Looking over at Naruto, her face neutral as he had admitted she was somewhat at fault but he did not hold it against her. However… "Why are you to blame? You did all…"

"I didn't." Naruto responded in a dull tone as his eyes faded while Yugito looked at him with surprise and wasn't sure what he meant by he didn't go all out before he finally answered her. "Shadow Clones."

Yugito's eyes lit up before she cursed realizing that the clones could have been his spotters. But there was a problem with that too… "You would have needed to give them the kunai, Naruto. Most weapons can be cloned along with it outside of… Special weapons and those kunai count. There would have been no time for you to pass them out to them."

Naruto had to admit he had been upset within himself as he saw the flaw in his own attack against the two. But now he could see that she was right. The two would have rushed him if he had tried to pass out his kunai to the clones since they could not copy them. However that still didn't explain how they still got away from him…

"Naruto… Stop doubting your skills." Yugito broke his melancholy thoughts as she stepped towards him and placed her hands onto his shoulders. "You did do everything you could at that exact moment… Didn't you?"

He was wincing as that once again wasn't exactly true. "Kind of… When Jiraiya started my training the very first thing we went over with after the Rasengan was… How to draw and control natural energy, Sage chakra. It is what made Jiraiya famous throughout the land and become the strongest of the sannin."

"However… Once again it takes a long time to gather that energy as either I have to stay still and draw it to me for a minute or I have to summon the two toad elders and that takes time as well. But I could have done it…"

"No… Not doing it was for the best." Yugito suddenly smirked as she drew her hands from his shoulders. "They don't know about it, do they? So that means…"

"That they don't everything and I can catch them off guard next time and take care of them." Naruto matched her smirk as he realized what she was pointing out. "Hmp… That may be just what I needed to hear… Thank you."

Doing her best to keep her blush for scarring her face red as Naruto almost never thanked anyone, Yugito managed to keep it down as she smiled at him as he had began to head back to Tazuna's. "Of course. You are my little bro."

She didn't know why… But Naruto stopped when she said that as if taking in what he said. But what she did know was that his eyes closed for a moment and sighed. "How long are you going to keep telling yourself that?"

Yugito froze to her spot. What did he mean by that? She didn't think she cared for him more then as a sibling as she had a few boyfriends (all but one were scared off by Anko, Itachi and/or Naruto) but… Then again with all her thoughts as of recently after her break up with Gota and the bad dreams she had been having and being saved by…

She snapped out of her daze as now Naruto was standing before her his blue eyes poured into her emeralds. "Yugito… I may not understand most emotions… But I am observant and realized the signs… As you aren't the only one that has been blind to it. …I'm truly beginning to see what Anko has been saying these last few years."

This threw her into a deep sense of chaos in her mind. She knew what Anko had been talking of… Saying how great of a couple they would be and that they should just get it over with and admit they were one. Had she simply been denying it all this time? Was Anko actually right about something?

Once more Yugito was snapped out of her daze to see Naruto walking away again, an annoying trend he had to end conversations when he felt enough had been said, she softly spoke to him. "I don't know… Maybe you are right. I've known your love for me is deeper then anything else I've observed… I just still am so confused…"

Staying silent for a moment, Naruto closed his eyes once again and only nodded. "That is a natural response. Love is the most confusing emotion I have seen yet I am slowly beginning to understand it and see its signs. I am only saying I have noticed my own directed towards you… And yours towards me. Nothing else. I'll leave the rest up to you."

"Wait, what?" Yugito nearly screamed out at Naruto as he tried to start walking away again and had to jump in front of him to keep him from walking off. "Isn't the guy suppose to be the one to court the girl?"

"Pffh. If that was the case Anko and Itachi would never have gotten together." Naruto blandly commented as it was the truth. Her aggressive nature had her land the onyx raven… After a month of heavy flirting and stalking her prey.

"Besides… I am not the one to court. I may be beginning to understand love… But I am still uncomfortable with it. Now if you would… I need to check up onto my team and take Sasuke off shift. My clones can handle that." Naruto apathetically stated as his team was top priority at the moment, not his love life or lack of said life.

Yugito frowned at that but she let him go as he was right. His team was the most important thing right now. But still…

Did she truly feel like that for him?

* * *

"Sensei… Are you awake?"

"Sakura…" Naruto groaned as he knew it wasn't even day light as there was no light and he knew her voice very well by now; so sitting up he twitched his eye a the girl. "Why in the world are you up at this ungodly hour? It isn't even five yet."

He had expected Sakura to respond quickly as she normally did but something was up this time. Her jaw had slacked and the amount of shock that her face was exhibiting. Was she afraid of him because of what she heard the two Akatsuki had said of him and Yugito?

No… No she wasn't. There was some fear there, but something told him she wouldn't have come in to speak with him if she was afraid of that. So what was it she was afraid of… And what was this weight on his lap?

Naruto finally figured out what was causing Sakura to gape like she was as he looked down to see Yugito fast asleep… Her head resting on his lap… Awfully close to his human reproductive organs…

His eyes twitched.

"This isn't what you think Sakura… Now what is wrong? Why are you up yet? The wake up call isn't till six-thirty." Naruto overcame his twitching eyes and softly spoke to the girl to assure her she hadn't walked in during fellatio.

Seeing the girl nervously fidget before him, Naruto sighed. It was indeed up the fox and cat within them that she was worried about. However, he had to commend the girl to confront him about it. "If it is about why we possess two bijuu I will address that once breakfast begins. However, I will tell you that I am in complete control.

Naruto didn't feel like she needed to know the truth. The fact that Kyuubi could be released at any moment she chose didn't really need to be told to the young ones. That was a secret between him, the old man and his selective family and friends.

But as he continued gazing at the girl for a while longer, he could see she hadn't slept to well as she was probably worried. So reaching across his body and digging into his pouch, he pulled out a single pill and tossed it to Sakura. "Take that. It will replenish your chakra and reenergize your chakra and stimulate your body for the day. However, do not take another one for the next three days. Its effects will still be within you for that amount of time."

It seemed Sakura still trusted him enough, something that he was glad for, and swallowed the pill before nodding. "So should I wake the others…"

"No. Our wake up time will be the same as my clones have us covered. If you want to help go start helping Tsunami. It seems she's up and in the kitchen." Naruto ordered as he knew Sakura wanted to know as quickly as possible but he wanted his team to be rested as possible.

Simply nodding her head, Sakura left and soon as he heard her footsteps heading down the stairs, Naruto returned his gaze to the last female in his room and his eyes began to twitch again. "I take this as you've already made a decision."

"It took some time on my own… But yes." Yugito honestly responded as she sat up, a shit eating grin adorning her face. "And after I came to that decision I realize… That I have to be the aggressive one."

'Great… She's becoming more like nee-chan every day.' Naruto bitterly commented as the last thing he really wanted was Yugito to become like her. He liked her the way she was.

Sighing as he wiped that from his mind, Naruto only shrugged his shoulders as he wouldn't deal with this right now. "Fine… But this can wait until the mission is over and we're back in Konoha."

"**What's the matter? Can't handle the pressure?**" He could hear his mother laughing at him in her cage, rolling around in the process.

Twitching at his mother and this entire situation, Naruto was glad that Yugito at least understood to take this rather seriously after running into Hidan and Kakuzu. "There will be a slight alteration in the mission plans…"

"I need you to infiltrate and spy upon Gato and gather his current plans. I am now sure the Akatsuki is no longer involved in this but now what will he do?"

* * *

"I'm glad you are all up… Now there are a few things we have to discuss." Naruto said to his team as it was a little before seven and everyone was awake and had washed up before he gathered them back into their room.

"We know both of you want to know about why we possess demons." Yugito explained as she was involved with this just as much as Naruto. "While our situations were different, we both had a demon sealed into us at young ages. I was simply the new recipient of the two tail monster cat and the fifth vessel of the demon."

"The fox on the other hand… Was sealed into me by the Fourth Hokage to save our village." Naruto took over for his part as he knew Yugito would butt in his briefing. "We didn't tell any of you for the simple reason as we don't want to be identified by what we contain. …It has made our lives pretty miserable."

Sasuke understood as he had the same problem of not wanting to be identified for being only an Uchiha. He also knew that they were probably treated rather harshly as he had done a lot of studies outside of the academy and he came across a few pages that dealt with jinchuuriki. That page had helped him see that they simply were human.

Kerlya also saw much in the same why but she really just wanted to hear more about what happened. Sakura was still a little iffy from the lack of details but she truly believed in her sensei. There was just still one last thing… "Was that why my mother… Why my mother was thrown into jail?"

Sighing as both Sasuke and Kerlya looked somewhat confused, Naruto felt Sakura had a right to know. "Yes… She tried to kill me six years ago and started the events that led to the depression that we are finally recovering from. …But I had a feeling you already knew of this."

"Yes… I just wanted to hear you say it." Sakura replied as she did know that she had attacked Naruto and she played a role in the depression.

Frowning as he looked at her for a moment longer, he turned his attention onto all of them and would have her stay behind after. "If you have any questions, just ask me or your parents and either they or I will answer them. Now we will get onto our schedule for our duration here."

"First you should know that there has been a slight change in plans. Naruto will be looking over you while I am out scouting Gato's bases, gathering useful information and setting the base for Naruto's assassination." Yugito explained her part to the three gennin to let them know where she would be.

"Why not just assassinate him now? Wouldn't that save a lot of time?" Sasuke questioned as if they could easily infiltrate and take care of the crime lord and end this entire mess.

"That wouldn't work. For one that would leave this entire village at the mercy of his mercenaries once they realized they couldn't get paid anymore and come here to loot what's left. There is also the fact that I know that there were other ninja in the area that I knew Gato hired but retreated when those two arrived last night and a missing ninja that has his pay source taken away is just as bad as a bandit." Naruto explained to Sasuke to let him on the downsides of such an action.

The said Uchiha nodded his head and stored that information away for later use if he was in this position again. "Now while she is doing her portion of this mission, I will be guarding Tazuna and his men at the bridge so they can work in peace. As I'm doing this I will create three clones to train you for what you will face soon."

"What?" Came from all three as they weren't sure what surprised them more. The fact that they would have to be doing some of the fighting soon or that they were going to _**TRAIN**_on a mission!

Naruto simply twitched at his team and wanted to sock them in the jaw. "You honestly don't think I'm going to put you through the same kind of training on a mission? I need you at max capacity for the worst case scenario so I can't train you to your limits."

"Thank you!" Kerlya suddenly jumped up and hugged him, glad that they wouldn't be tortured while they were out on this mission.

Prying her off, twitching his eye at her as he did, Naruto rolled his eyes before sighing. "Alright, that is all I have to say other then when you finish your training you will be with me at the bridge…"

"Wait, who will be guarding the house?" Sakura commented as she realized there would be no one staying at this point to defend Tsunami or her child.

Both Kerlya and Sasuke began twitching at Sakura as she had momentarily forgotten who their sensei was when the latter decided to speak up. "Sakura, the flash."

"That is only part of it, actually." Naruto replied as they had a right to know the aspects of defending the house. "I've placed those seals at key points in the house in case of a break in… If someone manages to break through my reinforcement seals on each window and door. I've also placed an identification seal on the door to supplement the reinforcements only to allow Tazuna's family and us in otherwise the other seal will activate."

Glad that Sakura felt more assured, Kerlya glad they didn't have to worry and Sasuke seemed eager to learn those seals, he shook his head at the three of them. "Alright, go get some breakfast… Sakura I want to see you for a moment… Alone."

Both Kerlya and Sakura quickly left the room, hungry as they didn't get much to eat on the trip here, Yugito narrowed her eyes for a moment before shaking her head. She remembered who Sakura's mother was and had a feeling that she knew what Naruto wanted to talk to her about. Giving them both on last glance, she followed the two gennin as she was rather hungry as well.

Sitting before Sakura as she stayed seated, he looked over at his student and sighed. "So I guess you have been allowed to talk to her. …Even if I dislike her, I do have to agree. No child should be punished for their parent's sins."

"I have." Sakura quietly said as she was somewhat ashamed of her mother's point of view. "But I haven't seen her in a while… It like she is no longer herself and all she thinks about how to get rid of the… _demon spawn_."

Being able to hear the detest in her voice, Naruto had to keep his face neutral as while he agreed of his student's opinion he could not show that. "Have you forgiven her?"

Sakura only shook her head. "No… I can't forgive her… Even before I knew of you or that you held Kyuubi in check, I hate her for trying to hurt someone my own age… What if I had been the vessel instead? Would she still have done the same…"

"Sakura… I can't answer any of those questions as I don't know the answers." Naruto stopped her from going down the path she was traveling. He still had a hard time believing that Sakura had more traits of being an avenger then Sasuke, who had an extraordinary reason to become one.

"But do know that I have forgiven her." Naruto stated which almost physically slammed her with shock. "If it wasn't for her I would not have become who I am today. Sure, she was the catalyst of Konoha's depression but I have no reason other then that to hate her. She gave me the gift to protect everyone around me that I care for and I will not waste that gift."

"And neither should you."

She simply didn't know how to react to that. Her sensei, the one that her mother tormented, was thanking her? That didn't make any sense! He should hate her for what she did but for some reason he didn't. So how was she suppose to react? She still hated her mother but the one that suffered the most of her actions did not!

"Come one Sakura… Let's get some food." Naruto stood and offered the pink haired girl his hand and pulled her up. "If you have any more problems, don't hesitate to come to me. Don't let this gnaw at you… You are your own person, not bound by anything. You should not be punished for what she has done."

"You've… You've known?" Sakura gasped as she looked at her sensei with trepidation. "Then why…"

Naruto interrupted her with a simple gaze that told her to be silent. "I didn't know about it until you were apart of my team. That's why I'm training you the most intensely and for a much longer period. …I can see the village is treating you and your brother like pariahs just like they treated me for Kyuubi and my mother for being Orochimaru's only pupil."

"While there isn't much I can do about it… I will do what I can. I will make sure you can defend yourself if they start to trespass that line and start to treat you anything like me. …If I don't deal with it first." Naruto stated with his eyes flickering for a moment with suppressed rage towards his own village.

Easily calming down as his intent to kill began to spill around him, Naruto simply tilted his head to Sakura. "Go eat… I'll be down in a moment."

As Sakura slowly did so, still in a deep state of shock as she did, Naruto refrained from growling. The village didn't know how hard it was making it for him to defend it.

* * *

"Um… Is this another chakra control exercise?" Kerlya was the first to ask as they stood in front of a single clone, the other two staying back and waiting for their individual student to finish so they could train them.

"Yes." The clone stated as he simply nodded before he took several steps on the water and turned to the gennin. "This is similar to the tree walking exercise with a few exceptions. Unlike the tree water is not constant so you are going to have to alter the flow of chakra to your feet to stay afloat."

Suddenly being pegged between the eyes with a rock, Sasuke growled as the clone glared at him. "You will not use the Sharingan for this. While it is a great tool, this exercise also focuses on your stamina. So simply acquiring this technique is useless as it will leave you without the strength building."

Looking somewhat sheepish as his sensei had a point having once told him that he would be allowed to use it now that it was active but only when he gave permission as working on his physical attributes were important as well. "Fine… What else is there to this? And why are they staying out of it?"

"There will be individual training once you finish this and while there are three of us in total it is doubtful that all of you will learn this in one day as this exercise also drains on chakra… A lot of chakra." The clone commented to inform them of what the other clones were doing. "There is also the matter of that you are a guy, Sasuke and they are girls. You cannot train in the same exact area during this… For obvious reasons as you will be getting wet."

All three were blushing a storm at that thought. It was very possible they could end up being exposed to another and they were glad they wouldn't have to feel so embarrassed about it.

"This exercise also works on you chakra reserves and helps them steadily build during the day. While your chakra slowly recovers compared to our master, you will still reap the same benefits just a little slower then normal. By doing this one day… You reserves should increase by a quarter if not a little more." The clone added as he stepped back onto land.

"Now let's start this… Sasuke, they've found a small grove over there for you to work in."

Only grunting, even though he was still trying to hide is blush, Sasuke followed one of the clones as it seemed the other was going to stay back. The said boss clone could only grin with a dastardly gaze. His master would love to have had that on camera. Perfect black mail against Sasuke and Itachi.

He was broken out of his thoughts as both Sakura and Kerlya plunged into the water after a few steps, looking at the clone of their sensei with a deathly glare. He didn't tell them the water was that deep only a few steps in!

The clones only sighed. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

The day was rather uneventful. He hated guard missions as he really couldn't do anything until the trouble arrived. That was annoying on its own but at least here he could provide food for at least this family. He didn't pack enough for the village, but he wasn't going to let his client, his family and his students to starve.

He did have to crack a smile at his three now dried gennin.

Sasuke was the only one to complete the exercise in the first day, as expected. However he did it only thirty minutes before the clones called them back for the day. And he didn't even get started on the jutsu he was planning on teaching him as he had to rest.

Kerlya had the worse day of all of them as she simply was finding it hard to understand what his clone was telling her. This was the same problem with the tree exercise so he had expected it but she was still making progress. It might take her two more days, but she would get the technique down.

Sakura was having a bad time simply because of her small chakra pool. She had actually mastered the technique but the problem was she couldn't hold it for more then twenty minutes before she dropped down into the water below. The only reason he hadn't said she was finished was because he wanted her to stay on it for thirty minutes.

But finally… The images he had of them plunging into the cold water and hearing them screaming, even Sasuke on his first attempt, were just too hard not to laugh at. He would have to learn some of the Yamanaka's techniques. He really wanted to share these pictures with his family and their parents/guardian.

However the good feeling he had was gone as Tsunami's boy came in, looking pissed at them for no legitimate reason. He simply scowled at them as he took a seat next to his mother, who temporarily went to the kitchen to bring the food in, which unfortunately meant besides him. "You know you should stop trying… Gato will kill you for opposing him."

Rolling his eyes at the kid as he knew the termite was good as dead when he felt it was the right time to strike, Naruto shook his head. Yugito's current information wasn't much to go on but he knew that a few hired goons would be coming here to abduct Tsunami and the boy for ransom in a few days. His seals would be more then enough to handle them.

The man was desperate as he apparently knew that the two Akatsuki had failed as he was reported that Tazuna was still working on the bridge. However she was unable to find anything about the ninja he had hired and that was what he needed to learn first before he took care of the crime lord and disabled his mercenaries.

"Hey! Would you stop ignoring me?" Inari angrily growled at Naruto as everyone else, Yugito included, gaze him dirty glares. "Hmp… You're scared is that it?"

"Not in the slightest." Naruto easily replied in a stoic tone as the kid, while a bother, wasn't even worth dealing with. "While you see him as some sort of almighty figure, I see nothing but a little mouse that has just been dangled before the lion. No crime lord can deal with the force of a ninja village."

Sasuke could only smirk as he watched the boy fumed over Naruto's response and couldn't help but add on. "The Hokage thought nothing of this mission and sent us as we are more then adequate to deal with his little mercenaries while our senseis tear down any ninja that will be involved. For you see… A gennin like we are… Are worth a HUNDRED mercenaries."

While Yugito twitched as Sasuke was severely overestimating their capacity, well at least Sakura and Kerlya's as she knew the boy was an elite gennin, she simply nodded her head in agreement for effect. The two girls quickly followed her lead with some doubts that they were but had a pretty good idea of what was going on around them.

Inari was ready to explode. This was too much for him to take, to believe that these kids were stronger then… "What makes you so special? What makes you think you can do anything that my father couldn't?"

Tsunami gasped as that was the first time he had ever called her late husband that as he wasn't his biological father. She, however, quickly regained her wits and reprimanded Inari. "That is enough! They have come to help us! At the very least you should show them respect for having the bravery to come when no one else will!"

While Inari flinched at his mother's voice as she put plates down before them, he simply glared at the teen he was sitting by. "Why dammit?"

As Tsunami was about to punish him some way, Naruto took the matter into his own hands as he met the boy's gaze with an unsympathetic tone. "Because we are ninja. Our purpose in this world is to guard, spy, infiltrate, _plunder_ and _murder_. We are trained for this from a young age to become strong enough to perform these tasks."

"The only difference between bandits and us… Is that we are _paid _to do it." Naruto kept his indifferent tone while putting emphasis on the key words while somehow while keeping that said tone.

As everyone was thrown into shock, Yugito and his gennin as well, Naruto sipped the tea before him and closed his eyes. "But lucky for you… You grandfather selected one of the few villages that stresses morals above all else. We simply don't do those things without just cause and he saw that in this case… The cause was more then just."

Finished with his speech, Naruto clasped his hands together and lightly bowed as he thanked Tsunami for cooking and dug in. And soon as he was finished, he left the house for a little reconnaissance for himself. He would deal with everything later.

* * *

"Feel any better?" Yugito spoke soon as she knew heard Naruto enter their room despite the arrangements should have been the girls in one room and the males in the other.

"A little… So how did everyone react?" Naruto blandly responded as Inari had truly pissed him off. He hated people with a horrid passion that complained about how life took a dump on them and did nothing about it.

Sighing as Yugito knew he could ignore those that only complained about their life but did something about it, she shook her head and raised her eyebrow towards him. "Not very well… Tazuna and Tsunami were the only ones that it affected positively. While Sasuke seemed to be unfazed, I can't say the same for Kerlya and Sakura as they weren't quite ready for that."

"They haven't accepted it as they are young and still innocent and have the choice to reject our way of life or take a higher road and becoming a medic or sensor or something along those." Naruto sighed as he slipped his shirt off with ease and began to make sure all was well before he slipped into his sleeping back.

Frowning at what she heard from Naruto, as what he said rather upset her as it felt like he was belittling kunoichi, she spoke in an angered tone. "What do you mean higher road? Are you trying to insinuate…"

"No… I meant what I said. If they are not ready for this life style they could simply adjust their dreams. The same is implied for Sasuke as… What we do is something I don't think many can truly deal with. If you have forgotten, that is the real reason why there are far less jounin then any other rank." Naruto altered his original statement as he could see how it as offensive to Yugito.

Still frowning but for a different reason, Yugito sighed and shook her head. "I know… But you should know what you said really hurt the boy. His step-father apparently is a hero here as he stood up to Gato and he considered him the strongest person he knew."

"I'm not going to apologize if that is what you are trying to lead me to do." Naruto stated as he honestly didn't care. "That boy is trashing his legacy and if he doesn't do a thing to right himself he will not only destroy his legacy… But he will eventually be the cause of his own death."

Gazing at Naruto for a moment longer, Yugito closed her eyes before she wiped a single tear from her eye. "You don't have to be this cruel. …I think this is the real reason why I have a hard time seeing you as a lover. I don't like it when you become like this."

Keeping quiet, letting her words flow through him, Naruto winced as each word hit him like a sharp kunai. Noticing she had slipped into her sleeping bag, he finally broke the silence. "I truly am sorry as I don't like to hurt you or my friends… But maybe now you will begin to understand the depths of my pain."

Yugito snapped her head towards Naruto as she sat up and growled at him. "Don't you ever fucking use that excuse with me even if yours was more extreme then mine! I know your pain as we have gone through the same crap together for the last six years and I had eleven years of crap before that back in the Cloud! Don't you ever say I don't know your pain! You try be almost raped!"

Her anger continued to rise as Naruto simply shrugged as he rolled away from her and closed his eyes. He was going to ignore her and that only added fuel to her rage. If he was going to act like this she would kick it till he stopped as he was being just as horrid as Inari.

But everything came to a stop as he whispered two words the eliminated all of her anger. "I was."

She was frozen as fear began to sweep over her very being. Did he truly just admit… That he was raped?

When could that have happened? …It happened before she arrived. But then why did no one stop it? There was enough people watching over him… Then again she knew he got beat rather often before she arrived and while they always came before most real harm happened they were ninja. They weren't always there to help.

It sickened her to even think that the blonde before her went through such torment as rape in itself… Was the worst fate anyone could suffer. Even death paled in comparison as at least the deceased are at peace. A rape victim that is left alive has to deal with all the scarring… Remembering the event over and over…

Clenching her fists, her anger was returning but it wasn't directed at Naruto as it was before. This hatred… She only felt it before towards one other time… When she heard of Uzumaki Kushina becoming a member of the Akatsuki. She wanted to find that man and rip him apart if he was still amongst the living.

But now his actions were becoming understandable, even if she wasn't going to let him off the hook for them. His outlook of life, the drastic shifts in personality and his hatred for those who speak of pain and let it absorb their lives… Everything was now explained. It was his way of coping with his demons.

"Naruto…" Yugito spoke but there was no response. Either Naruto had fallen asleep and she would have to wake him or he was ignoring her to let her dwell on his words.

Sighing as she wouldn't bother with seeing which it was for now, Yugito sighed as she slid her bag next to his before rolling her back against his. Closing her eyes, letting the exhaustion their argument had caused begin to take over, she drifted off after her last words. "If you ever want to talk about… I will be there for you."

Slowly opening his eyes, he gently rolled till he was facing her back. Simply flicking his hand through her hair, for some unbeknownst reason to him, Naruto gazed at Yugito for a moment before he smiled softly…

Maybe things wouldn't work out… But he had to try. She was too deep in his heart to let her go.

* * *

"Come on Sasuke… You can do this." The clone spoke out to Sasuke as this jutsu he was going through just kept escaping him. If he learned this technique many techniques of his element would become far easier for him to control.

Even after being allowed to copy the jutsu, Sasuke soon found out he couldn't just use this without struggle. Not only did it eat at his chakra and forced him to rest for a few hours just to recover, the feedback he was receiving caused enough pain that he wished they were going through his sensei's normal training.

There were no broken bones, no cuts or flesh wounds… No. The static feedback going through his very nervous system was going haywire each time he used this attack as the electricity would bypass his flesh and hit his nerves causing the pain. And what pain it was… He wouldn't forget this for a long time.

Going through the necessary seals once more, electricity began to build in both of his palms as he held them together. Then came the pain as simply holding the electricity as it started to attack the nerves of his hands and slowly travel through his arms again. Doing everything could, he tried to push the lighting from him… But he just couldn't.

Yelling out in pain once more as the lighting dissipated, Sasuke fell to one knee and nearly collapsed as his hands did not have the strength to use them to hold his body up.

"Sasuke… How your capacity?" He heard his sensei's clone say to him as he continued to struggle to get back to his feet, not going to give up so easily. He would beat this technique.

Still panting as he managed to drag his body into a stand, Sasuke peered into the clone's eyes before raggedly responding. "I have about a quarter left and one more will drain most of it."

"And you look like your body is about to give out… Let's try this one more time. Watch me and pay close attention to what I'm doing… Otherwise it is going to keep shocking you." The clone commented before going through the hand seals, giving Sasuke the time to activate his Sharingan.

Holding his two palms before him, the electricity began burst before him in dozens upon dozens of bolts. The trees that were suffering his assault were quickly burned but put out once he was finished. However there was something he noticed…

"You are… Spinning your chakra in your hands and forming what seems to be a… Shield!" Sasuke suddenly cursed as he did not see this before and felt like a fool and felt his brother and sister would rip him about this for a while.

"Correct. Soon as you finish the seals and have the chakra flowing to your hands to allow the technique to form you begin to swirl it for a shield. Once you form the shield the static shock will not burn your nervous system and you will be able to push it forth." The clone stated as Sasuke was still in a state of shock for overlooking the jutsu.

Sasuke began to growl at the clone before him, very pissed about not only how he overlooked it but his damn sensei, as the clone practically was him, did not say a thing about it. "You knew this all this time… And didn't tell me what I was doing wrong?"

"I thought you would have realized it after a few shocks." Naruto's clone admitted as it seemed despite how intelligent the Uchiha was… He was rather dumb. "Now let's see if you can get it down now."

Not going to miss a chance to beat this damn jutsu, Sasuke went through the seals and just as the jutsu activate he formed his shield. There was no static shock this time and with a grin, he pushed his chakra forward and electricity began to tear through the trees.

"Fuck yeah!" Sasuke roared as he finally got the technique mastered and had to restrain his own body from doing a fist pump and a little dance in victory.

The clone, however, saw this and grinned as he had to rain on Sasuke's parade as he went through the hand seals. "Good… Now let's see if you can master it."

Holding its hands out to his side, separating the two pulses of electricity, lighting literally began to flare in every possible direction around the clone. Each bolt wiped around him and wrapped around Sasuke, the hair on his skin standing on edge while the tips burned as they passed by rather harmlessly till the technique died a minute later.

Sasuke was giving the clone a frightful gaze with his jaw trembling as that experience… Had been horrific. He wasn't even sure the Uchiha massacre had been that bad. And the worst thing was… He realized he hadn't even mastered the damn jutsu yet.

And with that, he passed out and the clone only laughed at him. "Still have a long way to go, Sasuke."

"Why can't I do something else?" Kerlya screamed as this was becoming extremely frustrated the more and more she tried to lock the clone in her attack.

How she hated genjutsu. Her clan was mostly hand-to-hand specialist. Why did she have to learn these damn illusions?

"Just because your clan focuses on physical strength does not mean they only know just family techniques. I know very well Hana knows many earth jutsu as her element happened to be your clan's natural affinity and I know Tsume has a plethora of ninjutsu and genjutsu that she frequently uses in battle outside of your clan's strength." Naruto's clone countered as it knew it master trained with Hana and he sparred against Tsume a few times as well.

Frowning as she heard this, never having seen any Inuzuka use such techniques before, she was about to counter back when Naruto stopped her with a glare. "They do have them, Kerlya. You never seen them use any is because they are seeing whose stronger your clan techniques or training another in them."

"Now try it again or we'll move to one of our regular sessions. I'm not doing anything to stop the illusion. All you have to do is inflict it upon me. Once you do we can start trying it on a larger scale." The clone ordered as it was getting annoyed by Kerlya's lack of effort and constant complaining.

Wincing at the mere thought of having to do regular training, Kerlya gritted her teeth but nonetheless she began concentrating, pouring all her focus into the attack. Forming a single seal and molding the chakra correctly, she hoped, she imagined the illusion in her mind and tried to enforce it upon Naruto's clone.

The clone finally began to smile. Sure it wasn't correct by a long means as the illusion wasn't suppose to have this many feathers but she was on the right track. So dispelling it, it grinned as he looked at its student. "Finally we're getting somewhere."

"Try again only this time place less chakra in it and focus on far fewer feathers. It won't be long till we're finished."

* * *

This was pissing her off. She couldn't even hit his clone and all it did was chuckle at her and give her pointers. And why did she always have to work in taijutsu! She wanted to start going through ninjutsu or genjutsu!

As if noting Sakura's plight, the clone jumped away and held out her hand to have her stop. "Sakura… I know this is getting annoying but I need you to work harder for this. Hand-to-hand is your special whether you want it to be our not."

"What? I was told by Iruka and the other teachers that I would probably be best in genjutsu if anything." Sakura had to ask as everyone she knew at the academy and even a few of her friends had said as much.

Naruto's clone only shook his head and sighed for a moment. Taking out a copy of the report Naruto had on her, it could only shake its head. "Yes… Iruka states that is what he believes is your best attribute… However I noticed some of his input and realized that he is wrong or he simply thought it was one time thing."

"She tends to be rather weak in taijutsu and her stance and style need improvement. I also noticed that after some of the other students began to insult her something odd happened. While I could not see her eyes her fighting style, stance and power drastically improved and with two blows she knocked the instructor out. While I'm unsure what the cause of this is, it will need to be looked into."

After listening to the clone Sakura wasn't sure what to do. She remembered a little of what happened but she didn't know how she did it. She just knew she had done a few other times and still didn't understand how she was able to do such a thing. "I've just been able to do it at random moments… I don't think I can control."

"I believe you can." Naruto's clone said as he put up the clone before noticing something odd that even his master didn't notice of just simply didn't think twice about. "Sakura… Do you know anything about your father? There is nothing on here about him like there is for your mother."

Sakura gnashed her teeth together as that was another reason she didn't like her mother very much. "No… My brother told me that we have different fathers but my mother did not want anyone to know who the father was and refused for any blood test to be taken to see who it was. She didn't even tell him that he had a child and that keeps him from being in my life even now as I don't know and don't have the money for a blood identification test."

Frowning as that would be something that got his master ticked, the clone began to ponder on what he knew before he took in a few other traits of Sakura's he found odd. "Sakura… I know you no longer have a fixation on Sasuke, so I have to wonder… Did you have any loves then and do you have some even now to a somewhat unhealthy level?"

The question was an odd thing to be asked but she would try to answer it. It seemed that the clone was onto something and maybe he could help her as she felt rather stupid now knowing he had the money to pay for such a procedure in the first place. "Yes… Yes I did. When I was younger I feverishly picked out beautiful flowers pressed them to the extent I sometimes missed classes just so I could press flowers."

"Even now I have a 'fix'. I don't know why but I've been devoting myself to reading anything I can get a hold of… Even one of those perverted books. I can't seem to control myself and I just have to find that book or take it from them to read it." Sakura commented before blushing at admitting she stole books and even the perverted one from Kakashi… Somehow.

Raising his eyebrow at her, the clone only shook his head before his eyes began to narrow. Everything it had begun to learn was rather disturbing along with her sudden burst of freakish strength, a very powerful addiction problem along with a nearly unbendable sense of what's right…

"Could it be possible?"

Catching what the clone had said, Sakura's eyes widened. Could her sensei already know who her father was? And just from what he had asked it seemed this to be a trait and traits weren't all that common unless… Unless they were from a clan. So did that mean… She had a bloodline?

"Sensei… Do you know something?" Sakura wishfully hoped that he did as she really wanted to meet the man she was kept away from so long.

"Maybe." The clone admitted as this was too strong of a possibility. "I can't be one hundred percent sure but a blood test when we get back I will take you in for the test… As I really think I know who your father is."

'But I wonder how it is even possible? Are his traits so ridiculously strong they transcend even through a birth of a child and somehow stay strong as her mother attempted to squish those traits out for six years?'

Seeing the hope beginning to build within the girl and she just seemed ready to ask for a name, the clone sighed and decided to get it over with. "And if he really is your father, I don't have to train you in taijutsu any longer as he will be more then enough."

"I believe your father very well may be Maito Gai."

* * *

How much did he hate guard duty? Couldn't someone attack now? This was driving him crazy as he couldn't handle just sitting, doing nothing, for this long! Something needed to happen otherwise he would just snap and invade Gato's base, kill everyone there and then seek out the ninja he hired and devour their souls.

"**Damn… Maybe you should go see Yoshino again. I think your losing it.**" Kyuubi worriedly responded as her son's thought process made her a little disturbed as while she could see that there was no pointless death and it would make the mission a lot smoother… Damn.

'Mother… Unless you have some way to alleviate my boredom or something to do while I'm just standing here, leave me alone. I don't want to yell at you.' Naruto countered as he loved his mother and did not want to do anything that would emotionally scar her or have her become really pissed and flood his body with her chakra again.

"**Well I would say something, but you're my son and I'm slightly against incest.**" Kyuubi said somewhat irked at her own morals as she was bored as well. "**But why don't you just read something to pass the time. It isn't like someone can sneak by your senses.**"

'I don't have a book or even a scroll of reading material on me. And I'm not asking any of them as on their break times the only thing I see them reading is Jiraiya's smut.' Naruto fired back as he was quite annoyed but at least arguing with Kyuubi was somewhat taking care of his boredom.

"**You should. It will help you when the time comes to deliver you wonderful spouse to sweet bliss. …And even if I hate perverts, I'll admit he must be a pretty decent writer to have the following he has of both genders.**" Kyuubi shrugged as it was his lose if he didn't want to.

Simply twitching his eyes as Kyuubi walked away form their fight, somehow while still being in her cage, Naruto was ready to do a Shusui and go insane when he sensed a flicker of chakra speeding his direction.

At first he thought it was something to worry about, as the speed was very impressive, but he sighed as he recognized the signature very well and knew it was Yugito. However… Why would she be rushing to him at this time of day… And covered in blood.

"Tazuna, I'll be just off the bridge. Yugito's coming and something's up." Naruto informed the bridge builder before he leapt off the bridge to meet the blood stained Yugito. After a quick examination he knew know of the blood was hers. "What's going on?"

"Gato… Hired fucking sensors and a lot more ninja then before. I was able to take out the sensors after they spotted me and the other ninjas attacked me. Thankfully they were all chunin but the last two… I know without a doubt the swordsman is the demon of the mist, Momochi Zabuza."

"You weren't going to chance it. Alright, I'll deal with him. I think I ran into his apprentice the day I blew up as his signature was familiar but I did nothing as he was freely giving me information… Without even knowing he did." Naruto explained, having told Yugito of this before but did not know Momochi was involved.

Looking somewhat confused as she knew what the mist did to his sensory capabilities, Yugito had to ask why he wasn't worried in the slightest. "I thought that was the reason you had dropped your limit as it was becoming painful to feel that chakra around you."

"It did but I've learned of my limitations within it already. I will be more then ready for him. …But better yet, they'll becoming after Tazuna now after seeing your strength, won't they?" Naruto kept his dark smirk in check as he knew Yugito disliked it and was trying to at least appease to some of her dislikes of him.

"There is a high probability and Gato will be nervous. I don't think he'll stay in his mansion tonight. I think he will stay with his mercenaries and I know he will kill whoever is left standing after Zabuza's tries to kill Tazuna." Yugito stated as she found out practically everything she knew but was somewhat irked that all her marks were now made rather moot.

Simply nodding, he tilted his head back to Tazuna's. "Go clean up and rest. I want you to stay out of the mist until the fight is over between us then come in to help me finish it."

"Yes." Yugito briefly responded as she was currently talking to her superior, not Naruto, before she dispersed in a swirl of water to clean herself of blood.

Climbing back up onto the bridge and near Tazuna, Naruto grinned. His boredom would finally be taken care of. "Tazuna… Tell your men not to come to work tomorrow."

"What? But why?" Tazuna at first was surprised by his order before he started to feel a certain dread and he had a bad feeling about it. "Is someone coming after me?"

"Yes. I can deal with him but the odds are high he will come here first and do bodily harm to your workers. Keep them home for tomorrow or until he attacks for their own safety. After it is done there should be no more distractions… As Gato will finally be dead." Naruto stated as he wouldn't risk their lives.

Tazuna could only, both in relief and a little for of the jounin before him, before he went over and gathered his workers to tell them the news.

Naruto this time couldn't hold back his nearly insane grin. He just hoped Zabuza would be able to entertain him for a while.

* * *

Sasuke knew something was going on. The fact that the mist was unnatural again made him feel that today would be like when those two came to kill Tazuna and to kidnap Yugito. So why in the world were they being brought in while Yugito stayed at Tazuna's?

Both Sakura and Kerlya were having the same thoughts crossing their minds before all three realized it at once. There was going to be mercenaries there for them to eliminate.

While Sasuke had no problem with this and knew he might get a little sick from his first kill but it was natural and it was a part of the life he had chosen. Kerlya also knew this but found it hard to even think about as death… Well she had heard Hana's stories about her kills and didn't like how it sounded. Sakura didn't feel like killing anyone but… There were those that just had to die and all the bandits that worked for Gato indeed deserved death.

Naruto was refraining from smirking at his team. They not only noticed that they were walking into a bad situation but also gathered their courage as they may have to be ready to kill their enemy.

Turning his attention for his students as he had to focus, he noted two figures standing for them and knew who they were. "Ah, just as my information said. Momochi Zabuza, the demon of the mist."

"The Prince of Konoha, huh?" Zabuza countered as he stared at the boy, his non-existent eyebrow only lifting just slightly. "I wouldn't think Konoha would send you out for such a low-class mission. Still… My job is clear. I hope you will stand aside and allow me to finish my mission."

Four shadow clones formed around Naruto before he spoke to his gennin but kept his attention solely focused on Zabuza. "Your goal will to take care of the 'hunter ninja'. I'm sure you three can handle it."

Zabuza narrowed his eyes dangerously at Naruto. Haku was more then enough for three gennin as he had personally seen him take care of three jounin before. "I wouldn't do that, Namikaze… Haku is my apprentice… But he is far stronger then I."

"So you think." Naruto easily responded and slid his gaze to three gennin with a grin. "Because if you say that then my students are stronger then you."

Oh Zabuza was getting irritated. Not only did this guy insult Haku's strength… His power just insulted. Now on fucked with Momochi Zabuza! "You know… I was just going to kill the bridge builder… But now you pissed me off!"

As soon as Zabuza roared, Naruto's clones had pushed his gennin away and formed a box formation around him. Then a fiery shell in the shape of a box formed around them, effectively sealing Tazuna off from Zabuza. "Go ahead and try. Nothing you have can break that barrier."

"Haku… Take care of the brats." Zabuza growled out, becoming seriously annoyed by Naruto's overconfidence in skill. "I know you possess the Hiraishin but don't get cocky boy! You can't flicker to me if you can't see me!"

As soon as the order was given Haku burst towards Sasuke, selecting him as the most dangerous threat of the three. However, Sasuke was ready and with his Sharingan already active, he caught the movement.

Grabbing onto Haku's outstretched hand with a few senbon in the said hand, Sasuke narrowed is eyes as Haku chuckled before bringing his other hand into a seal. Realizing he was going through a jutsu, he quickly countered and drew a kunai before the seals were finished and flicked it towards Haku's chest.

Haku twisted and rolled his body, taking Sasuke with him before he still managed to finish the hand seals. A dozen of frozen senbon formed from the pool of water next to his feet and shot out towards Sasuke.

The Uchiha, however, drug Haku with him as he jumped back and nearly had Haku stuck by his own attack. But it was for not as Haku managed free his hand from Sasuke's grasp and avoided his own senbon as he skidded back. "You're good… How is it you are still a gennin?"

"Hmp. That's because our village's chunin are far stronger then I am." Sasuke replied as he drew forth yet another kunai and his red eyes blazed as he gained at Haku before grinning. "Say… Do you know that technique you just used… Can be copied!"

To Haku's horror, the same water pool that Haku had formed senbon and came for him. Sliding back after back flipping for distance and ducking under the ice projectiles, he narrowed his eyes. "Figured as much… Uchiha. I simply can use it easier as it is a supplement for _my _bloodline."

Now Sasuke didn't feel as confident as before. This guy had a bloodline that revolved around ice. Ice was fusion element of water and wind, two he really hadn't learned on controlling yet, and this guy could use it without any trouble. That was going to make this tough.

"Sakura, Kerlya!" Sasuke barked out to his team as he would need their help. "We need to work together to take this guy out! Sakura take him on in close range for a moment. Kerlya will give you medium range support and I'll give long range!"

"Right!" Both followed his orders as Sasuke had been officially dubbed the head of their team by Naruto and an elite gennin by the Third.

Sakura was the first to reach Haku as Kerlya gave Ralts a soldier pill and activated her human-beast clone before following. She quickly engaged the ice wielder with a superman punch.

Haku's mask splintered at the edge as barely weaved out from her blow which was rather disturbing for him. It seemed she been learning mixture many normal styles of martial arts as she began to follow up with a quick flurry of blows. To his dismay, this girl's hand speed was insane. He found it difficult to move in and out of her blows and knew he needed to get out of close range with her.

Luckily while her hand speed was quick, her kick wasn't so much and he was able to catch it. Sakura looked on in dismay as this had a familiar feeling to it before she suddenly found herself thrown from Haku.

But to his dismay he turned only to hear one thing and see two spiraling human tornadoes barreling down onto him. "Gatsuga!"

Not being able to dodge more then one, the spiraling fang lifted Haku into the air from a direct hit before spinning him around for a moment or two before he finally detached himself from the blow and hit the ground. Stopping her spin, Kerlya looked ready to pounce when Sakura did.

This fight was not going this way. These three were good. They each seemed to have their strengths and they applied them well with one another. Not to mention she was sure the Uchiha on his own would be a difficult task for her to handle thanks to those eyes of his.

But before he could think of much more, he could feel his body becoming woozy and the world darkening around his vision. Cursing as he knew this was a genjutsu, a slow developing one the Uchiha probably castled earlier and now started to take effect, he bit his lip and dispelled with a simple ram seal.

Then all hell broke loose as he was driven into the ground and mounted by the pink haired girl. Normally he would have enjoyed to be in this position but not in a fight. This was one of the worst positions to be in during a melee contest and she did just what anyone else would do. She started to strike him.

Knowing that he had to get out of this quickly otherwise this would be the end; Haku quickly gathered as much chakra into his hands and focused on the water in the air. With a single push, ice shattered before Sakura's face and then with a quick hook to her jaw Haku was freed.

Forming a mirror of ice, he jumped back as he let the two spiraling tornadoes smash it head on knowing they would not win. "Damn… I have to get them into the dome quickly if I want to win this."

"I don't think so!" Sasuke suddenly yelled as he suddenly appeared just above Haku, whose eyes widened in surprise and had no way to dodge the strike to his head.

Tumbling to the ground, the ice wielder quickly tried to get to his feet before both Kerlya and her cloned dog upon him and engaged him in close range. This was becoming all too annoying as this girl was good in close range, helped further by there being two of her, and instead of punches she slashed at him with elongated claws.

But after being treated to the pink haired girl, she was far easier to deal with and spun around to her side and smacked her in the back of the head. Unfortunately that was the clone and it only knocked her dog as she continued her assault… Or so she thought.

Haku literally disappeared and appeared a few feet behind her with senbon ready to drive in her neck when Sakura blurred into the picture and gripped his arm. However, this was the best case scenario for him. "Thank you… Now let's see how long you last in this!"

Sasuke knew something was wrong as he felt chakra all around Kerlya and Sakura as what seemed to be those mirrors began to form around his partners. Whatever this did, he could not let them get caught in this. A quick replacement with his own being he succeed in getting Kerlya out and a kick to Haku's chest, Sasuke gripped Sakura's arm. "Forgive me."

With a massive heave, he flung Sakura as far as he could to free her from this attack as the mirrors had finished forming a dome. Turning his attention back to his opponent, the Uchiha's eyes narrowed as the boy only chuckled as he merged with his mirror. "How noble… Sacrificing yourself for your team. Too bad it will be all of naught."

Mirror images of Haku began to form all around him, Sasuke gritted his teeth as this definitely was not good. But to his advantage he managed to kick Sakura and Kerlya out of this so they could help from the outside. But to his horror he saw them about to run in. "NO STOP! I need your support on the outside!"

"It doesn't matter… I have never lost once I have revealed this jutsu of my blood. You will die as will they." Haku growled at them as he was thinking about sparing them but now he was pissed. "But first… I'll take care of you since you are in here already!"

There was only a flicker of Haku as he passed from mirror to mirror so quickly it seemed like there were as many of him as mirrors. And as he entered each mirror multiple senbon were launched towards Sasuke.

Sasuke had never been so thankful for his Sharingan. It was due to his eyes that he could see each and every shadow of the senbon coming down at him before they even made it to him. Not only this but he was able to keep his eyes on Haku and was able to see through the illusion of the others dashing from mirror to mirror.

He had no idea that he activated the second stage.

Still, despite all of this he couldn't dodge a good portion of the needles. Despite being able to see them coming, he was unable to move fast enough to dodge all of them.

Now Haku was even more irritated. He knew this kid was an Uchiha and of all the rotten luck his eyes just advanced a level which made things even harder for him as he was able to dodge a lot of his senbon. And with these eyes he would dodge enough to make this a fight of attrition and he wasn't sure he could pull that off with those two still outside the dome.

Sasuke knew this as well as after another attempt even fewer of the senbon had hit him and he grinned. This fighting was turning his way and this would be the best time to try and escape as he went through the seals for his first jutsu. "Katon: Gokakyu!"

A giant burst of flames surged from Sasuke mouth and crashed into the ice mirrors, sure they would melt. But as the flames gave out he heard Haku chuckling before his eyes widened at the sight before him. "Oh it will take a lot more then that to melt my mirrors. If you've got a more powerful fire jutsu I'll let you use it to see how futile it is to escape."

Realizing his only way to escape was Sakura and Kerlya, who looked unsure of what to do, Sakura growled. "Sakura, Kerlya! I need you to run distraction so I can get out of here! Once out we can finish him off!"

Despite understanding what Sasuke was saying neither knew how to distract Haku as he went through the mirrors and renewed his attack with far more vigor. Then Kerlya's eyes widened as she thought of what Haku was doing. "Wait… He has to stop every now and then. So that means that running that technique for long strains his boy and drains his chakra or… He's toying with Sasuke."

Sakura did not like what Kerlya had to say about Sasuke being toyed with but she had to admit it was a possibility. "Alright… I've got an idea…"

Sasuke was getting rather pissed. This time he wasn't able to dodge very much as the senbon came at him with higher velocity. Not to mention it seemed Sakura and Kerlya had no clue of what to do… Oh now they did. But what were they doing…

"Hey ice bitch!" Sasuke yelled out at Haku to make sure his focus was entirely on him. "Are you going to start getting serious or should I just end this now!"

Now it was Haku's turned to be pissed. Did the damn brat just call him a bitch? Oh there was no way he was going to let him live for that. Growling in his throat, he was about to attack when he noted the two girls running around his mirrors. Narrowing his eyes at this, he wanted to inspect his mirrors when Sasuke decided to bolt for it.

Quickly rushed to Sasuke and snapped him back to the center of the dome as his image for the mirrors dissipated. "You don't stand a chance of getting out of here! Just accept your fate!"

Sasuke growled and began to go through a series of hand seals but Haku only chuckled as he sunk back into his mirror… And then each and every bottom layer of the mirrors went up in flames. Cursing as he had to jump out, his eyes turned back to Sasuke only to see a flash of light.

Burning… The next thing he knew he could smell something was burning. But it wasn't the burning smell he was use to… But it was familiar… The same smell that he remembered for the burning corpses of the Kayuga clan after their invasion of the Mist.

It all came to him then. It was he that was burning as the scorching pain filled his entire body. He was hit by a powerful electric attack and the one thing he knew about the lighting element… Ninety-five percent of jutsu from the element were meant to kill their target.

But as he slammed into the ground, his eyes slowly fading there was one thing he could only think of…

He was now useless to Zabuza.

* * *

Zabuza knew this was over. There was nothing he could do to stop the Prince of Konoha.

Everything went wrong as soon as Haku engaged the gennin. That left him alone against Naruto… Something that practically every ninja in the world considered taboo. This kid knew far more then the Flying Thunder God…

It was his insane sensory skills that marked him as the second double S-rank ninja in the history more then the legendary flash. Sure the flash was what originally gave it to him… But it seemed he no longer even needed it.

They were so great that he could follow the chakras movement so well that he could strike at the exact point you were moving even if during a feint attack. He also could read chakra flow and know what jutsu you were about to use and counter it with a jutsu with its elemental weakness or just use a stronger attack of that element. He was just glad he couldn't copy them… He hoped.

But to his fears the mist was not affecting him in the slightest as he thought it would. Sensors always had a hard time in the mist as their specialty is seeking chakra and the mist was made of chakra and the heavier it was… The harder it made it to see through. But this kid… No, this ninja could see through it as if it wasn't there.

And then to make this a fight he knew he could not win was that the Prince was completely balanced. No one ninja aspect exceeded the other… They were all highly trained in to the level equal to that of a specialist. And just to make things all the more humble for him… The flash had not been used yet.

A double S-rank indeed. There was no doubt that Naruto, from his view, was stronger then his very own Hokage.

Both his arms had been disabled, both his shoulder blades and elbows being cut through by his opponent's ninjato. His hamstrings had been shredded and his blade pierced both his knee caps. Finally there were too deep gashes along the side of his ribs and a spiraling wound driven an inch into his stomach as blood poured out.

He knew he was dead so he did the only thing he could do. He began to laugh. "Namikaze… You truly are the strongest… And I recognize that as such."

"Take my sword… You will have more need for her then I do. Just remember all she needs to be fixed is blood… Use mine and repair her." Zabuza stated as his laughter had not abided.

Laying the sword before him, in the pool of blood that was already flowing before Zabuza, Naruto watched as the blade literally began to repair itself before his very own eyes. All it really need was blood to fix it. So his sword truly did have a unique ability like the rest of the seven swords of the Mist.

Lifting the head chopping sword onto his shoulder, he stood behind Zabuza's kneeling form and held his own sword ready to behead him. "You are a good ninja… And you will be remembered as such."

Zabuza could only grin. He knew he was… His opponent was just far better then he was this time. "Heh… Get this over with kid. Don't leave Haku waiting for me."

With a simple nod, the cleaving sword took his head in one swing. Ignoring the blood spattered that speckled onto his being, he took Zabuza's holder for the sword and strapped it on before sheathing the head chopper. Then as he burned the body with a heavy flame, he lifted Zabuza's head, put it into a body bag and sealed it into a scroll.

Yugito arrived to see Naruto do this. While this scene would bother most, she was accustom to it. They were an Anbu unit and they did this every time they killed a ninja with a bounty on his head. It was just how it worked.

"They did well… They defeated the hunter and… Sasuke finished him though he doesn't feel too good about how he did it… He seared him alive with jutsu you taught him." Yugito said as Naruto turned to her, smiling sadly as he returned to his more emotionless state… How she hated battle fields.

"He's just about here and I've planted a seal on the boat… Do you want to finish this?" Yugito asked even despite knowing he would as it was his mission to assassinate Gato.

"Yes… I will take care of this now." Naruto said and closed his eyes as sat in a meditative state for a few minutes before his eyes slowly opened to reveal they were now golden.

Feeling the distance between the marker and the bridge, he turned to his students and saw the battle scene against Haku and could see Sasuke looked ready to puke as did Kerlya while Sakura already did. Stepping towards him, Naruto could only nod as he knelt down next to Sasuke. "You did what was needed… I know none of you were prepared for something like this… Just remember this is to save this country and you did what you had to do."

"That goes for you too." Naruto said as he looked up towards Sakura and Kerlya. "You might be sickened by how gruesome this death was… But you need to see this. …The job of a ninja is not always pretty and sometimes things like this happen. But this is what you signed up for."

Standing from Sasuke, helping him onto his feet, Naruto sighed as he turned from them. "Go take Tazuna home… Your day was hard enough. I will finish this."

Dispersing in a flash, leaving his students unsure what to do, Naruto appeared on front of the deck as many mercenaries began to gather ready to invade the bridge. Each looked on in shock as two clones of Naruto formed behind him as he raised his arm up. "Gato and all those that work for you… This will be your last day. This country will be free."

Fear was written on their face as a blue orb began to form above in his raised palm before it began to take the shape of a shuriken. But most of all… Gato next to the captain of the ship began to tremble.

His death was assured.

"RASENSHURIKEN!"

* * *

**A/N2**: This was much longer then I thought it would be but I hope you all enjoyed it. Sorry about how easily Naruto handled Kakuzu and Hidan but I didn't seem them as match for him in the first place.

I originally had designed this chapter for Naruto and Yugito to finally get together. That obviously didn't happen as I thought better of it and decided to prolong their relationship and let it build for a while longer and keep some doubt in Yugito about if a relationship with the two could actually work.

Also about Naruto's shifts in personality throughout the chapter I have yet to really explain but it should be somewhat obvious. Naruto isn't exact… Sane. While he hasn't reached the stage of insanity he is bordering the line and while he can keep himself control of himself… There are times he obviously breaks and loses some if not all control. Keep this in mind for later chapters.

As for Zabuza, I decided to bring him back as Gato originally hired him but after Kakuzu and Hidan came along he called him back feeling confident they would succeed. Once they failed him he sent Zabuza and Haku back out to finish the job.

Now for Sakura being a pariah and Gai's possible daughter, two shocks I know, this was kind of planned. I've always seen Sakura's physical strength as strange even before Tsunade trained her and I just from looking at Sakura's mom in this story I didn't think it would be too much of a stretch that she never told Gai about it. The pariah part is easier to explain as her mother is despised as much as Orochimaru. Once again not too much of a stretch to say she would be view in the same kind of light like Anko was.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you have any more questions, have something to say that is non-flaming or just want to say hi drop a review and I'll get back to you on the questions or rip those who flame me.

Peace Out.


	15. Love of a Father and a Daughter

**A/N**: This chapter is going to focus a lot around Sakura and her changes as she is in a lot of the scenes. This chapter is also mostly filler(and some information for the next few chapters) as I'm a few chapters ahead of schedule and wanted to slow the pace down and to secure a loose knot from last chapter(Sakura and Gai). It is also a relationship builder for Naruto and Yugito and a few others.

By the way, normal sized chapter.

* * *

"So that's what happened..." Hizuren sighed as he had not expected the Akatsuki to suddenly show up in the area as all the reports he received there was only Mist missing ninja there. "I commend you for completing the mission... But the moment they arrived you should have sent them home and requested your unit."

"I wasn't necessary. We both know how the Akatsuki works. After they fail at attempting a bijuu they will draw back and formulate a new plan and possibly different members to capture them and will not come after the vessel again for a long stand of time." Naruto replied in a neutral tone as he figured the Third would know that.

The said Hokage did know how they operated but that wasn't the point. "Naruto... You put your team in jeopardy for the mission..."

"Sir, with all due respect they were _never_ in danger from them." Naruto narrowed his eyes as he knew damn well what he was doing. "If I hadn't seen Yugito put her fear aside I would have flickered to their protection. Now if you wish to continue this pointless diatribe I suggest you pull that kunai out of your ass before I shove another one in."

Sarutobi growled at Naruto's insubordination as it wasn't the point they weren't in danger. He knew damn well that Naruto would have not let them be harmed by those two. What was ticking him off was that was feverishly defending his actions and trying to bully the Hokage. And unfortunately he was one of the few people in the world that could possibly pull off such a feat...

Still Hizuren was not going to accept his jounin and head ninja's insubordination. "I know all of this Naruto but you need to learn your place! You may be the strongest in these walls but I still am your superior. You would do well not to disobey my orders."

Naruto raised his eyebrow at the old man before shrugging. "You know me, Lord Hokage. I will follow almost all of your laws and orders unless they are senseless. And I will follow them to the exact order... And you ordered them onto that mission. You knew the consequences."

Fuming as Naruto was still being defiant, this time at least he could only sigh about it though. Naruto was the closest thing to a robot there possibly was... At least he was a robot that learned how to feel and care for others and thankfully learning to become human once more.

Now Naruto was confused. The old man had began to chuckle leaving him very, very confused about what just transpired. Just as he was about to ask the Third spoke. "Naruto... Do you know that is the first time you've ever been rebellious before?"

Still looking confused as he had no clue what this was about, Hizuren wanted to bust out laughing at Naruto but calmed himself. "Never before have you ever questioned my orders. You went out and did them without much thought and here you are now, arguing about you following my orders and doing what you were told."

"I don't get it. What is this all about?" Naruto finally got annoyed enough that this was passing by his head and decided to flat out make the Third tell him... One way or another.

Hizuren only shook his head at Naruto, as some things he was rather slow, he looked at the young jounin with a bright smile. "You are finally coming out of the robotic shell I once said you had. You are becoming more human each day... I think giving you that team was the best for everyone involved."

"You may go... But please keep your disobedience at a minimum. Kakashi and Anko give me enough problems." Sarutobi chuckled as he pulled out his new pipe and lit it. "And bring the blood work to me as soon as you do the test and I'll have the papers ready if your suspicion is right."

"Thank you, old man." Naruto gave the elderly Hokage a half grin and lightly bowed before leaving the room as it was eleven at night and his team just got back only an hour before.

But still in his chair, taking a puff of his pipe, Hizuren softly chuckled to himself. "If you were anyone else Naruto you would have been severely punished... But now that you are finally returning to humanity it is almost time."

"The Godaime is almost upon us."

* * *

"Who could be here at six in the morning...? I haven't even made any coffee yet." Haruno Yeshua complained as while he normally woke at six as he had his duties of a chunin to do he still needed coffee to fully wake up. "Oh... Lord Namikaze... What is this about?"

"I'm taking Sakura to do a blood test. I have a feeling I know who her father is and now we both want to find out for sure." Naruto informed him as he wasn't adverse to the time as he woke up at this time often, if not an hour or two before.

Yeshua looked somewhat stunned by this as Sakura came in and nearly collapsed into her bed and quickly fell asleep, he only nodded as he invited him in. "I'll go get here... Make yourself comfortable as it will take ten minutes for her to get ready."

Naruto only shrugged as he had noticed that women, no matter the age, always took longer to get ready then any male he knew. The only exception to that rule was Anko as she would just come out... Stark-naked or wearing very little clothes that left nothing to the imagination.

So deciding that he was going to have to wait at least ten minutes as he said, Naruto took a seat on their couch. Now what would he do now that he had sit? Meditation was the only thing he could think of doing at a time like this as he didn't converse with others that often, especially outside his small little family group.

"She'll be out in about five... I guess she is a hurry to get this done." Yeshua stated as he flicked his hand through his sapphire blue hair. "Do you want some coffee our something..."

"I'm fine. I'm use to waking much earlier then this. It kind of becomes a habit when you train with Gai and now his mini-clone for six years." Naruto explain why he didn't need coffee or any stimulant to wake him in the morning. There was also Kyuubi but he didn't want to say that she was part of the reason...

Yeshua could only nod his head as he knew how that man trained, being ran over by Gai once and then taken to the hospital by the said man, he entered the kitchen and set up the coffee pot as he still need some.

Naruto was somewhat grateful that the apartment wasn't that bad. Then again it was in the shinobi district so many wouldn't dare touch it as there would be no doubt they would get caught. He noted some of the stuff seemed to be a little damage or older and seemed to have came from a thrift shop, probably because they got charged extra to buy things.

Only mentally growling at that, as he could be wrong and they just liked the thrift shop, Naruto shook his head as Yeshua came out of the kitchen sipping a cup of pure black coffee and sat down on the other end. "I've heard a lot of stuff about you, Lord Namikaze..."

"You can drop the formalities. I am not one for them outside of duty, Yeshua." Naruto responded as when he was off duty he found that he didn't like to be called such.

Nearly fumbling his cup of coffee, as the Prince knew his name and practically told him to treat him as a friend, Yeshua nodded numbly. "O-Okay. ...If I may, but what is this about a blood test? Sakura hasn't told anything about this to me and she got home last night and passed out soon as she made it to her room."

"During some training exercises during a rest in the mission I found some weird traits about her that remind me... A lot of a good friend and sensei of mine." Naruto responded as there was no harm in telling him as he was Sakura's flesh and blood. "As we are now both a little curious I'm going to pay for the procedure and see what the test results are."

Surprised at this, as he knew the procedure cost more then he made in a month and that his sister's sensei was willing to dish out such money, Yeshua nodded numbly once more before he softly smiled. "Thank you... She's wanted to know who her father was as far back as I remember. Maybe this will bring her some closure..."

"Or a father." Naruto stated as that was the true reason he was paying for this test. If she truly was Gai's daughter he deserved to be in her life as the man honestly didn't have very much thanks to his past.

Raising his eyebrow as he had been told by their mother Sakura's father had died before her birth, something he did somewhat doubt, Yeshua had to ask as it seemed Naruto truly did know who it was. "So are you sure about who here father is?"

"I can't be without the test but all the signs point to him being the father." Naruto admitted as he wasn't a medic and could not be one hundred percent sure in anything that involved those kind of skills. They happened to be his one weak point.

"Could you tell me who you believe it is?" Yeshua asked as he was rather curious who he thought his sister's father was.

"Sensei told me it was a friend of his that taught him in taijutsu... Maito Gai I think his name was." Sakura said as she came out, strangely enough wearing a white version of her dress with a blue circle instead.

Naruto only raised his eyebrow at her dress but shrugged as she did have multiple versions of them and he should have suspect she had many different types. "So are you ready? I have everything set up so if we get there now we will get the results after some light training today."

"Training! We just got back from a mission and we're still going to train!" Sakura nearly screeched as the thought of training after a serious mission like the one they had just gone through was absolutely ridiculous.

"I said light, Sakura." Naruto spoke in an annoyed tone as he wasn't going to put her and the rest of his team through the blender. "I just have some things to go over with all three of you and a little practice. And after that I'm taking you three out for lunch as you performed well and deserve a small break."

Feeling better about that, Sakura sighed in relief as she hoped that was all they would be doing. Turning to her brother, she smiled and hugged him lightly. "I'll see you later tonight when you get off your shift."

Embracing her lightly, kissing her lightly on the forehead, Yeshua only shook his head. He wasn't sure what to say now that he knew she would know who her father was before the end of the day and she might move out and in with him. But there was one thing he did know. "I love sis... You have any problems just come tell me."

Sakura simply nodded as her smiled brightened, she quickly followed Naruto out the door. Chuckling at her, Yeshua took another sip of his coffee. "I hope your sensei is right... As I don't think there is another man in this village that is as trustworthy as him."

* * *

"Ah... I was expecting you." Mikoto commented as she saw Naruto and Sakura enter the room. "I almost have everything set up so if you wouldn't mind sitting here so we can get started."

Naruto leaned up against the wall as Sakura did as Mikoto asked. He had been glad that after Sasuke became a shinobi that she took back up her old position as a medic ninja. A specialized one at that... A geneticist. He just got lucky that she actually was the one to perform the procedures and pushed some of her other less important appointments back.

"Okay, this procedure is rather simple but it is because of all the high tech specs that are involved is why it cost so much." Mikoto admitted as she strapped a tourniquet on Sakura's bicep, slightly surprised on how well toned it was. "All I'm going to do here is take two vials of blood from you and then you are free to go."

"What's the second vial for, Miss Uchiha? Isn't one more then enough for this?" Sakura asked as politely as she could knowing this was Sasuke's mother having seen her from time to time.

Checking the syringe to make sure there was nothing out of the ordinary, Mikoto smiled as she looked over at Sakura. "Yes, one is enough to find out who your father is. The second is in case of an accident and so I can keep it on record in case I need to look at it again for something."

"Oh." Sakura could only say as she understood before she braced herself as Mikoto began tracing the vein to make sure she had a good one before she stuck her.

Drawing two vials of blood and setting them onto a small rack, she softly pulled the syringe free before her other hand glowed a soft green and quickly attached the vein back as it was and covered the hole before finally removing the tourniquet. "There! All done! I should have the test done somewhere around two to three if I'm not interrupted."

Sakura had watched in awe as she saw Mikoto quickly heal the damage the syringe had caused. Any doctors and medics she knew before would simply put a dressing over it and let them be on her way. "What... What was that you used?"

Frowning as it seemed Sakura had no clue what it was she had just done, Mikoto erased the frown with a bright smile. "It known as medical jutsu. Most people are unable to do it as it requires complete focus and near perfect chakra control."

Naruto couldn't repress his smirk. This was working better then he thought as Sakura's interest rose exponentially as she had always want to become a medical ninja. And seeing her look over towards him, he hid his grin as she spoke. "Sensei... Do you know any medical jutsu?"

"Sorry, but no. I don't have the control for such a thing due to my massive reserves of chakra." Naruto told the girl letting it sink in for a moment before speaking again. "However if you want to learn, you can. Your control is already extremely impressive so you might be able to."

Mikoto narrowed her eyes towards Naruto as she had a feeling of what he was trying to pull. He was somehow trying to wrangle her into being a teacher to this girl for medical... She quickly had a change of heart. "You know, that isn't a bad idea. As I said before our numbers are low and while have more then enough to take care of the injuries that happen here we lack in field medics."

Sakura's head was whirling around as she caught wind of what was going. Not missing a beat, she got of the stool and bowed towards Mikoto. "I want to learn how to become a medic. It is my goal to become a medical ninja and not only help my friends and family but everyone I can!"

Barely repressing her grin, seeing Naruto was doing no better, Mikoto looked at Sakura for a little while longer with her Sharingan active before slightly nodding. "Fine, I'll see what you got. I want you here at six tomorrow morning as that the most free time I have in a normal day."

"Thank you! Thank you!" Sakura rapidly stated and jumped up in joy as she had a chance to follow her dream. "I'll be on time, no doubt!"

Biting back the giggle she was repressing, Naruto motioned for Sakura and waved her goodbye before the two exited. Soon as they left, she busted out laughing. That was too humorous for her.

* * *

"Oh come on!" Sasuke was a 'little' annoyed at being called in by Naruto for a training session though he had to wonder why he called here in the library. "Seriously, I thought we are going to get a break for a few days! We aren't some super soldiers that you can just push to the limit every day!"

"Sasuke, shut up." Sakura twitched as she was somewhat annoyed at Sasuke complaining and felt like she was ready to punch him for some reason, probably because he was interrupting her reading. "Sensei has a good reason for bringing us out here today and we aren't really even going to be doing any training."

Sasuke's jaw dropped. Did Sakura just tell him off? That was something that would have never happened two months ago. He wasn't sure if he liked this change or not as there was so many possibilities. However that was when he noticed... "Why are you reading that? That's the things perverts read."

"What are you...? Oh." Sakura was about to question before she noted she was holding the second of the series of Icha Icha. "I liked the first book so much that I stole the second one from the same guy as I actually kind of like the plot twists and everything. The smut is okay but the author makes a great story overall."

"You stole two of Kakashi's precious books... Are you secretly a jounin without me knowing?" Naruto had to ask as there was almost no one that could steal one of those books from Kakashi and she had done it twice without him even noticing.

Sakura blushed deeply and buried her head into the red book, hoping to find some escape from it. Thankfully after a few words she was blissfully unaware of the world around her.

Both Naruto and Sasuke took a step back from how quickly she was able to absorb herself into the book. Neither of them knew if this was a good thing but they weren't going to question it. They simply hoped that she wasn't going to turn into an open pervert and/or Anko... Something Naruto feared as Anko was one of the few women he knew to read those books in public despite her disdain towards Jiraiya for writing them.

Ignoring Anko's weird personality conflicts, Naruto shook his head out of his funk and noted Kerlya was almost being dragged to them by Ralts... Who seemed determined not to get punished again for being late as Naruto hadn't just punished his partner.

Smirking at this, he only shook his head as her partner bit Kerlya on the ear before she jumped up and screamed. "Ralts! What the hell was that...? Uh-oh."

"You're not late, if that is what you are thinking." Naruto told her with his light smirk plastered on his face. "In fact you're just a few minutes early so we can start early."

As both Sasuke and Kerlya dreaded starting early, Naruto rolled his eyes at them before bonking them both on the head, lightly of course. "We aren't going to be physically training today. ...I'll be teaching you a little in seals until around lunch time."

"You have a date with Yugito, don't you?" Sasuke snickered as he quickly recovered from the hit and knew that the two were now an 'official' couple.

Naruto did nothing in response other then continue on with his announcement to his team. "But first off I have good news. The chunin exams are at the end of next month so we have about fifty days before then. Since I've gotten Sasuke instated as an elite gennin you three will be taking apart of the exam. I have also filed for you to be enlisted as an elite as well, Kerlya. However I doubt you will receive the ranking but nonetheless I tried."

"Wait, why didn't you enlist me sensei?" Sakura rudely commented as she was somewhat upset that Naruto had not put her name into the list.

The blonde vessel only smiled at her, something that was bothering the three as he rarely ever smiled, he rolled a scroll in front of her. "Because I already have. Congratulations! Now since you will be taking medical lessons from Mikoto you are now a ranked elite gennin as medics are in dire demand and as such the Third recognized you as such."

As Sakura leapt up in joy, getting a shush from the librarian as she was being too loud, both Sasuke and Kerlya looked at Sakura in slight shock. Kerlya was somewhat upset that Sakura got accepted, albeit on technicality as she was learning to be a medic, and she wasn't. Sasuke... Sasuke was just surprised.

"Anyways..." Naruto brought them out of their stupor and Sakura to her seat. "This next month in half will be split into two sections of your training to round you out as a team. Sasuke, you will be going through ninjutsu and then taijutsu. Kerlya, I will have you going through kenjutsu..."

"Weaponry training?" Kerlya frowned as she heard this as they all thought they were going to be going through a cycle. "I thought we were going to be learning taijutsu, genjutsu and ninjutsu from you."

"I never said that." Naruto reprimanded her with a stare as he wasn't finished. "I said I would cycle you through three aspects that you will benefit the most from. I never once said that I would be cycling through the big three as there are far more elements to being a ninja then those."

Kerlya blushed at being corrected as Sakura and Sasuke only nodded. Taking this as a sign he wouldn't be interrupted again, he hoped, Naruto continued with his schedule. "And after kenjutsu I will have you go through taijutsu. Sakura this will be our first lesson actually as you will be going into sealing and then ninjutsu."

"Also we won't start any serious training till next week. After tomorrow we'll be meeting at our normal site for nature manipulation." Naruto began to wind up his announcements and start their session. "And one last thing... You will need to find a tutor for additional training outside of my own. You may use your own families and Sakura I already know you have one, maybe two once we see the test results."

As both Kerlya and Sasuke were going to ask about it, Naruto simply glanced at them to let them know to drop it. Then picking up a single scroll before him, he unraveled it before them. "We first are going to learn about storage seals... As you three need to learn them badly."

* * *

Almost wanting to drop his head into the stand before him, Naruto rubbed his temple. Of course Yugito was rubbing his shoulder and telling him it would all be over soon. He didn't believe her though. He didn't think the damn blonde haired banshee would shut up!

"Oh Sasuke..." Ino winked as she somehow managed to steal the seat next to him, something Naruto was wondering as that was his seat. "What you been doing?"

"Training." Sasuke nonchalantly stated with a twitching eyebrow as it seemed Ino was in a more fervent mode then normal and that was not good in his opinion. What was even worse was that she managed to knock Naruto out of the chair and forced him to relocate on the other side of Yugito...

And that scared him.

Frowning as she wanted to know a little more about her (not so secret) crush, Ino gently pushed on his shoulder. "Come on... You can tell me more... Wait, your not dating Sakura are you?"

As Sasuke huffed, though the thought seemed appealing now that she was very strong and no longer fixed on him, Sakura rolled her eyes as she sat two seats away and took a bite of her ramen as she kept reading. "I stopped crushing after him after a few weeks of training. We don't have that much in common and we have different mind sets."

Widening her mouth in shock, not believing what she heard Sakura said while Kerlya giggled, Ino looked at Sakura as if she had a second head. Then she thought she had a third head because of what she was reading. "SAKURA! WHY ARE YOU READING THAT SMUT?"

"This isn't smut... It's a piece of art." Sakura countered as she flipped through a page without missing a beat. "It has great advice on relationships and dating material along with many other wonderful aspects to it. I'm surprised so many women hate this book. The author is a genius as he disguises the book as smut to give guys relationship pointers."

"What?" Came from Yugito's mouth with her mouth agape in horror as it was simply too baffling to realize that was what Icha was about. "That doesn't make any sense! That man is always peeping around at the bath houses for research!"

"It's a cover, Yugito." Naruto tried to calm her down as he knew Jiraiya pretty well and while he didn't agree with his tactics they were affective. "While he does enjoy that aspect of his writing as it gives him pointers on his female leads, the man knows a thing or two about courting women... Now if he would just practice it instead of peeping maybe he wouldn't be so lonely."

While no one else got that reference as they did not know who Jiraiya was Yugito busted out laughing. Naruto had a great point as she knew the man complained out not getting laid despite knowing what he needed to do. He was really the world's greatest retard and still was the world's reigning champion.

Ignoring the two jounin, Ino turned her gaze back towards Sasuke with a wicked smile. "So Sasuke... Would you like to try some of those things out in that book?"

Sasuke spit out the ramen in his mouth. Then he shivered. That was the most direct any girl had ever been with him before. Now he was completely sure what she was after. "No... Ino, I'm twelve! I don't even care about sexual intercourse yet! I'm not even really into girl's that much as I'm still just a kid! That stuff comes later in life."

"Hey girl... You want some advice." Yugito stated as she in her stool and gave her an annoyed glance as Ino simply nodded. "Stop being so aggressive about courting him. Most men don't like it and Sasuke is definitely not like his brother in that aspect. Most guys like to be the dominant one in the relationship so stalking him and constantly fawning for his affection is a turn off."

As Sasuke glared at Yugito for giving her any information on how to bag him, something he wondered how she knew, the neko vessel only smiled as it seemed Ino was absorbing what she was saying. "There is also another fact... Sasuke is a ninja and most ninja prefer there spouse or girlfriend to be as well. And while you wear that headband does not mean you have taken the job seriously yet as he has. ...Do that before anything else and maybe he'll start to acknowledge you."

Ino's eyes went wide at the revelations that came from the other blonde girl's mouth. Was that truly the case? Then did that mean... Did that mean she would have train harder and become a better kunoichi?

"Oh, and by the way... Sasuke did ask Sakura out a few weeks ago because she began doing all those things. The funny part is she was no longer interested and she actually turned him down stating 'While I'm honored, I'm no longer interested. I just want to get home, crawl into my bed and crash for the rest of the day'." Yugito added with some humor as she had been their sensei for that day as Naruto was out on a S-class mission.

Sasuke was now at a full blush as that had been the first time he ever decided to ask a girl out and was shot down in a blaze of failure. "Don't remind me..."

Looking at Sasuke in a new light then she did before, realizing there was something far deeper then there was before, Ino quietly slipped out of her chair. She had training to do if she was going to have any chance with Sasuke if he had already asked Sakura out, though he failed.

However as she was about to leave her eyes twitched as the bush was shaking. At first she thought it was some of Sasuke's fan girls before she heard a familiar voice. "Um... You have some visitors here blondie."

As Naruto twitched at the nickname as no one called him that before, Yugito bit her lip to keep from laughing before she shrugged her shoulders. "We know. They've been there for a while now..."

"For nineteen minutes to be exact." Naruto commented as he slurped down what was left of his ramen. "But I will have to give them some credit. They've been somewhat stealthy and patient up until now. I think it mainly was because of the Hyuuga and the weapon girl."

Both screamed out as they had been discovered and fled in terror, for some odd reason, Naruto twitched his eye and turned to Sasuke. "How do you deal with them?"

Grinning as for once he knew something that his sensei didn't, Sasuke simply shrugged as he was going to keep this a secret for a while...

Until Naruto decided to roast his ass for that information.

* * *

It was finally time and Sakura was a little nervous.

They didn't even bother to meet with Mikoto as she had informed Naruto that she had already sent the information to the Third Hokage. Her brother was there in the office with her, called off duty by Hizuren personally, so he could be there with his sister. Both Sasuke and Kerlya were there for support as well once she informed them what this was about.

Meeting her father for the first time was a rather nerve wrecking experience.

It also didn't help her that the Third was keeping who it was under wraps as he wanted to make this as surprising as possible. Of course Naruto already knew as he could read the name on the document from the reflection in the windows behind the Third. But he was just there for her support as well.

"He should be here any moment... I hope." Sarutobi stated as he had sent Kakashi to inform him and he pleaded to the gods that he didn't stall the man for the next few hours.

His prayers were actually answered for once as the door opened to reveal Gai with Kakashi trailing him. "This better be good Kakashi... I don't like missing out in shining in the POWER OF MY YOUTHFUL TEAM!"

As everyone cleared out their ears from such a violent verbal explosion, Hizuren chuckled as he knew Gai very well. "I assure you Gai this is important enough to let your team have the rest of the day off."

Standing a little straighter then normal as he noticed the rest of the company in the room, mostly Naruto and Yugito, Gai simply nodded as this might not be very good. Then again his team was here so this obviously wasn't an extreme mission assignment. "Yes Lord Hokage. What is it that you have brought me here today?"

"It is something that you asked me about twelve years or so ago, a little after Kyuubi's attack I believe." The Third told the azure beast as he hoped that would be enough to jog his jounin's memory. He knew Gai wasn't dumb, like he tried to act, and he would catch the hint.

Gai was standing even straighter then before. He knew all too well what the Hokage was insinuating. Twelve years ago after Kyuubi's attack... He had asked to see if any of the orphans happened to be his child as he received a letter from an unknown source that he had a child, not remembering having being with someone nine months before, probably because it was around his birthday and he was hammered at the time. The Third did everything he could at the time but it was to no avail.

"Yes... I remember. But why now after all this time have you brought this up." Gai kept his voice normal despite his very soul was trembling as he really hoped that this wasn't leading down the path he thought it was.

Not many people knew it but he had a very traumatic childhood. At the age of three he lost both of his parents in the war at the time on the same day. A year late his grandmother was next as old age finally took its course and his grandfather had past away long before he was born. So he grew up as an orphan as his father's grand parents had past away when he was one.

While he got to play with other children, he was scared that he lost everything so quickly and at a young age. He just couldn't understand it and so he couldn't enjoy playing with the others which left him ostracized from the others and they made fun of him and bullied him. He nearly did not become a ninja because of all their taunting but he still managed.

That was probably why he emphasized with Naruto due to how the others treated him. But even when he became a gennin his teacher wasn't exactly the nicest person to him and told him to quit on multiple occasions.

It was then he started developing his joyful and never die facade that he displayed to the entire world and he finally began to blossom into the man he was today by pure hard work and dedication. Only his closest friend's, three of which were in the very room, knew it wasn't the real him and he would show the true him around.

But if this was leading to what he thought it was, he wouldn't be able to keep his mask on any longer. If he actually had a child then and that child had passed away... He would never be able to forgive himself for not finding them sooner.

"Gai." The Third snapped the man out of his thought track, knowing what was going through his head, the Hokage softly smiled at him. "I know this is twelve years too late... But I would like to formally introduce you to your daughter, Sakura."

For the first time in Gai's that he truly broke down and began to cry. Not only did he finally get to meet his child, he knew she hadn't grown up alone and was safe and sound. It was too much for him to take as tears began to fall freely.

Just seeing the damn began to break, Sakura knew how much this meant to the man. He had been looking for her all this time and had not been able to find her as her blood had not been on file until recently thanks to her few injuries during training and the blood test. He wanted to find her... He wanted to be with her.

As both were beginning to break down, Yeshua sadly smiled as knelt down and whispered into his sister's ear. "Go to him..."

While it hurt that he was letting his sister go, he had to some day. She was a ninja now and there was the possibility that he could lose her at any moment. But at least now... She had someone to look up to as a father figure... Her real father, someone they had been trying to find.

Everyone moved out of her way to create her a path as Sakura rushed to Gai as he fell onto his knees and embraced her, crying loud enough for people outside the room to hear them. Neither could say a word, as they didn't know what to say, but instead cried in one another's arms.

The rest of the room had a tear in their eyes as they saw this. A father and his daughter finally being united after twelve years without knowing the other even existed or was alive. It brought a tear to all but one eye.

Naruto couldn't cry. That was probably why his mind was like a sewer but nonetheless. He was simply satisfied by what he done. Not only did he find his student's father... He gave his best friend the one thing he had been wanting for years.

To be a father.

* * *

"You know... That was a great thing you did." Yugito softly spoke as they had finished cleaning up and were currently in their joined room. "I've never seen Gai so ecstatic and emotional about something... Not even his mask could have matched that sheer amount of emotion."

Naruto smiled. There was nothing else he really could do about the situation. All he could say was that he felt rather good about the entire thing. However he wasn't one to toot his own horn so he simply wasn't going to respond to the first half of what she said. "It is good to see him drop his facade like that. Hopefully now he'll be like his true self more often now."

Slightly frowning as Naruto would not admit he did something great, Yugito could only shrug as that she understood well. He didn't accept it as he practically had no ego and wanted nothing that could feed it. "Still... You did a great thing in bring them together. I didn't know you could play match maker so well! Maybe we'll work out after all!"

Twitching at her chirp, Naruto simply glanced over at the innocent looking Yugito. "Uniting a long lost father with his estranged daughter is completely different from getting a couple together. Besides, what about your advice to the ponytail girl? Do you enjoy playing match maker?"

"Yep!" Yugito chirped once more and Naruto face faulted onto his bed.

But as he looked up to say something to her, her lips brushed against his completely freezing him as they briefly kissed. "I've watched you give Anko advice for it too long and decided to get into the game myself. Now if I could just catch the big game..."

Naruto completely recovered from her kiss and was unfazed as he sat up; he shook his head at his roommate. "As the wise Zen master said, we'll see."

"That we will, that we will." Yugito could only nod as she moved to her bed and slipped in before smiling over at Naruto as he did the same as a clone of his turned out the lights. "Good night..."

"My wonderful fox-boy." She trailed off ever so quietly as to make sure even Naruto couldn't hear her.

"And to you, Yugito." Naruto mumbled to himself, having just heard her.

* * *

**A/N2**: And there is the end of this fifteenth chapter and a rather quick update too! Hopefully I gave enough time for people to review the last chapter and if not, oh well.

As I said before this was mostly a filler chapter that led to the inevitable Gai-Sakura uniting moment. I simply had to do it just to give the last chapter closure and not just do an 'Oh, Sakura lives with Gai now' chapter. I also wanted to introduce Yeshua to see if I will do anything with him later in the story. But as the Zen master said, we'll see... I need to stop watching Charlie Wilson's War so much...

There was also the small relationship building between Naru and Yugi to get things started. They are technically a couple but aren't really at the same time. It won't become more serious until in the upcoming chapters.

I hope no one minded that this chapter was mostly about Sakura and if you have any questions, want to say hi or have a comment you know the drill. And no flames unless you want to be ripped a new asshole as I don't have a smart ass family for nothing.

Peace Out.


	16. Team Seven

"I'm glad all of you arrived today." Hizuren stated as all of his jounin sensei had been called into the room along with some of his more esteemed ninja, which most happened to be parent's of many of the rookies. "As you all know the Chunin Exams will be held at the end of the week. I have called all of you together to learn who of you think your teams are ready."

"But before I get to that I have a few warnings as I have received some rather vital information from Jiraiya." Sarutobi mentioned before he allowed his jounin to admit their teams to the exams. "It seems that Orochimaru has been snooping around here of late… I'm not sure what he wants but whatever it is I can assume it is not good for the leaf."

"I want all of you to be vigilant and if you see any signs of something strange report it to me or either of my head ninja and we'll deal with it properly." At this Naruto and Itachi's gaze met for a moment before they simply nodded as they knew what to do if they ran into the snake.

Noticing his two head ninja's gaze, Sarutobi held in his smirk as his former student would not be getting whatever it was he wanted. "But I want to reassure all of you that the exams will be safe and well simply will tighten security and have one of our top four Anbu captains placed at each gate."

He resisted the urge to say that each gate had the Hiraishin seal placed on them as that would placate his ninja far too much for his liking. "Outside of that, there is a bit of issue with the exam as well. There will be at least one jinchuuriki participating in these exams as well as a few teams from the Rock."

Hizuren immediately knew that there would be a few less teams entering the exam this year. The threat of a demon vessel was not to be taking lightly even if the carrier was only a gennin in rank. There was always the chance of the demon emerging in battle…

Then there happened to be the Rock gennin, which he had to wonder why they finally decided to compete in a chunin exam in Suna or Konoha, and it was known that when a leaf team ran into a Rock team one did not come out alive. So because of that the rookies wouldn't enter along with a few of the more experienced teams.

"I will ask you all to only enter you team if you believe they are ready to take the next step, regardless of this information. If you know their training has been sound there is nothing to worry about." Sarutobi sternly spoke as he gazed at a few of his now more fearful jounin teachers as only a few looked confident.

And the jounin with the most confidence, the one that didn't show a lick of it, stepped forward. "I have faith in my team and the training and abilities I've bestowed upon them. It will take more then another like me to stop them from their goal. They are more then ready for this."

Sarutobi couldn't refrain from smirking this time as he could see many of his jounin regaining their faith in their teachings. These exams would be exciting to watch unfold.

Now he simply hoped the Rock wasn't planning something…

* * *

Panting heavily, Sasuke could not believe what was happening… He was losing this fight and badly at that. Losing was not something that happened very often for him. He usually only got whipped when he was facing off against his sister, brother, mother and his sensei.

But to make this entire matter even worse for him… He was losing to Sakura.

Okay, he was the first to admit that he knew her strengths and weaknesses and she knew his. And he had to admit this fight was close and slowly was turning his direction but this was a timed spar and to his misfortune his sensei was taking score like it was some kind of game, which perhaps to him it was.

But Sasuke also had to admit, though he hated doing so, but the girl over these last few months ever since team seven became gennin she had improved by far wider margin then he had. While Naruto had trained her well in the first month in taijutsu, and even a little during the Wave, now that she was reunited with her father… Her speed, power and everything imaginable had gone through the roof.

This wasn't forgetting the fact that she was still learning underneath Naruto in seals and ninjutsu, two elements combined with her extraordinary taijutsu were very deadly now that he thought about it. Then there was one last thing… He was just barely faster then she was so he had to use genjutsu just to get out of close range with her.

"Alright, that's enough!" Naruto called the fight impressed by what he had seen as both were fighting as hard as they could. "I will have to give this match to Sakura as you couldn't keep her out of class range, Sasuke, and you didn't score many points when you got some distance from her. Still, at the end you were slowly regaining control and if this had lasted a minute or two longer you would have taken control."

While Sasuke wanted to growl he could keep fighting, he knew not to argue against Naruto. Their spars were not to last over five minutes and to allow him to evaluate them properly. And one lost could hurt him and his pride wasn't bruised too badly.

He still had won every spar up until this point and his confidence was only boosted as he knew he could still defeat her if for some reason they truly had to fight one another. So with a smirk he turned his head to Sakura. "Good match… Sakura."

Taking deep breathes, exerting herself just as much as Sasuke had been during the fight, Sakura could only smile at the Uchiha. "Thank you… If that had lasted any longer I know you would have on unless I got in a good hit. I don't have your kind of endurance, stamina or even chakra at that."

Off to the side of Naruto, somewhat banged up as she had fought Sasuke and Sakura earlier in the day and had lost to both of them, Kerlya sighed. She didn't like that she was the weak link of their unit but in all fairness… She probably would be the strongest on almost any other team she could be put on.

Naruto's training had made each one of them powerful and she knew that. The fact that she could stand her ground against both in two matches in a thirty minute span proved that as she doubted that many of the other gennin could last that long against them. So she had to smirk at that.

Looking over at his gennin, Naruto could only smirk as they had changed drastically since he took them as his team. They were more then ready for the chunin exams in a few days. Not only that, their appearances had changed as well… Though Sakura's reason was obvious… Her dad.

While she hated the idea of a spandex a full body suit did have its advantages so she took to wearing one and of course it was pink with white sakura pedals hovering over her chest.

Her hair had been cut as she Gai had convinced her long hair could get in the way of a close range fighter, though he had asked her instead to braid it if she wanted to keep her hair. There were also her fingerless gloves with a sheet of metal on the knuckles to make her punches hit harder and long black steel toe combat boots to keep anyone from stomping on her toes.

Sasuke outfit changed a little too. He had gone with a plain white tee and a grey flak jacket over it with his clan's fan on the back, saying he would replace it when he got his chunin vest after the exams. He also wore black shorts that reached over his knees and wore bindings for his knees down to the arc of his foot.

Kerlya really hadn't changed as she still wore her grey jacket closed so no one could see what she wore beneath. The only difference was that she was wearing a white pair of pants and she had two specialized pouches on her waist for a weapon she had been learning on how to use.

Shaking his head, wondering how he hadn't noticed their attire changes before, Naruto finally pulled three sheets of paper out. "I believe you know what these are so take them. Remember to sign your name so they'll let you stay once they take your slips from you. The exam will start on Saturday at the academy by ten at room three-o-one. So you need to make sure you are there before that time so they don't kick you out before it even starts."

As each took their slip, Naruto sighed as he looked over at the three. He would actually miss them during the exams, something before hand he would have scoff about. "I need to inform you not to use my kunai during this exam unless you are absolutely sure your life is in danger and there is nothing else you can do… Because if I help you at any time you will be disqualified."

"Hey, we won't need it. I sparred against Neji the other day and I kicked his ass and he's one of the strongest gennin in this village for sure." Sasuke triumphantly grinned as he had become go sparring friends with the Hyuuga since their teams were introduced and started training with the other a couple times a week.

"There's going to be other shinobi of course, but we're confident that we can hold our own. You don't have to worry about us so much, sensei." Kerlya added as she felt they would be fine and that if there was any one great threat they would simply gang up on that person like they did against Haku.

"There is a jinchuuriki entering this exam, you three." Naruto frowned at them and got their attention with the mention of another demon vessel in Konoha.

"I can't tell you who he is as I have only sensed the presence of another bijuu within the village walls just recently. It doesn't feel very powerful so I doubt it is Hachibi or what's left of the higher ranked bijuu since Nibi is in Yugito and Gobi is floating in the abyss. However do not take anyone lightly as they could be the vessel and… Then you will be dead." He morbidly continued once as he caught their attention.

As each gulped, weary of even taking these exams, Naruto decided to brightened their mood a little. "But as long as you stay aware of your surroundings you won't have much to worry from him. He'll be too focused on passing these exams to even bother with you as you three blow by them… As my training makes their tests rather simple."

It was at this moment Naruto realized his plan on making his team feeling better back fired. For all intent and purposes it should have calmed them down but his training had kind of warped their fragile little minds. And by kind of he meant completely.

It just made them implode and Sasuke was the first to scream at him, shaking the collar of his shirt. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR TRAINING IS MORE DIFFICULT THEN THE CHUNIN EXAMS?"

"YOU'VE PUT US THROUGH HELL JUST SO THAT WHEN WE GET TO THE REAL THING IT WON'T EVEN AFFECT US!" Kerlya screamed as she grabbed Naruto's right arm and began to pull on it, trying to rip it out of his socket it seemed.

The next thing Naruto knew was that Kerlya lifted and threw Naruto into the air and Sasuke kicked him back down… Straight into Sakura.

"SENSEI YOU'RE AN ASS!" Sakura summed up all her and her team mates' words into one simple as her fist met Naruto's cheek and drove him into the ground, creating a ten foot crater in the process.

But too all of their horror 'Naruto' simply went poof before a whistle from behind them caught all of their attention. "Wow… Naruto-sensei tricked you again! He's the best!"

All three twitched as they turned around to see Konohamaru and his gang bragging that the three of them had been fooled by his clone. None of them knew why the runt was there in the first place and they really didn't care about why or any punishment they would get for attacking the grandson of the Third as he provided a nice scapegoat.

With a simple roar, all three lunged at the boy and the grandson of the Third knew immediately he was in danger and jumped out of his box with his partners in crime, Udon and Moegi.

"AH! NARUTO-SENSEI! HELP US! THEY'RE GOING TO KILL US!" Konohamaru screamed for help as he took off running with Moegi and Udon in hope that Naruto would take care of his psychotic team as they chased them down, narrowly avoiding the punch from Sakura that destroyed the earth below, Sasuke's flames that burned their box into a crisp and Kerlya's claws as they shredded through the fence above his head.

There was no answer as it seemed either Naruto wasn't there or he was enjoying watching as the scene unfolded. The first seemed somewhat likely but due to the few months Naruto had been a sensei… The second was probably exactly what he was doing.

It didn't matter how long it seemed that he ran or the fact that Moegi and Udon had been overtaken by Sasuke and Kerlya, Konohamaru was still running for his life as Sakura was hot on his tail. The fact that he was outrunning her wasn't lost on him but at the moment he really didn't care about that.

But it all came crashing down in a halt as he smashed into something. However that something happened to be rather hard and made an annoyed grunt and happened to be another person. Unfortunately that person happened to be a foreign ninja… A gennin from the Rock.

Sakura skidded to a halt and narrowed her eyes as she caught the symbol on his forehead protector and immediately slid into her stance if he proved to be hostel. At least Konohamaru was quiet and saying anything otherwise things could get…

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Konohamaru yelled out completely oblivious that he just ran into a foreign ninja, one that happened to belong to a village that they did not get along with, while Sakura face planted into the ground at his stupidity.

Growling as he was just going to let this go as the kid accidentally ran into him, running for his life as he more then likely did something unthinkable to the girl, the Rock gennin lifted Konohamaru by his collar and glared into his eyes. "Brat… Shut the fuck up or I will beat the hell out of you! You ran into me and you are at fault, got that!"

Now Konohamaru knew the danger he was in as this time he could see the stone on the headband and knew what kind of ninja he was dealing with. So he simply vigorously shook his head before he was dropped on his rear before the Rock gennin turned his attention to Sakura. "And you girl, be lucky I'm nicer then either of my team mates. They would have done something to this boy… Seeing he's the Third's grandson."

As Konohamaru squeaked and ran behind Sakura, realizing that the ninja knew who he was, both Sasuke and Kerlya appeared at her side before the former nodded. "We'll keep that in mind…"

"Raiu the name. That's all you need to know. Aschen, Satoshi come. We're heading to our hotel." The brown haired gennin named Raiu bellowed before the two other Rock gennin jumped to his side. "And Sand ninja in the tree… Stop following me. We'll face each other soon enough."

Sand began to swirl in front of Sakura until a red head appeared before him with a gourd slung onto his back, his gaze focused completely on Raiu. "Are you… Are you the one that mother senses?"

"I see… You are one…" Raiu whispered to himself gazed into the red head's emerald eyes. "Possibly… However our welcome here has been a little worn out. I wouldn't want to give the flash a reason to get involved. Let's go."

Without another word the Rock team left the alley leaving Naruto's team alone with the red headed sand ninja, who now turned to them. Narrowing his eyes for a moment as he sensed the presence of another ninja, a powerful one at that, his emeralds returned to their stoic demeanor as he focused onto the gennin before him. "You three… You are strong as well it seems… I will look forward to killing you."

But before he could disappear without another word, Sasuke growled and stepped before his team. He was getting annoyed at what was going on, not having sensed the two Rock ninja and the red head and especially mad at realizing the Rock had sensed their sensei was in the area. "Who the hell are you?"

"Gaara…" Was all the red head said before he dispersed into sand as he had to find as he left them to check out the presence he had felt.

Growling in his throat and clenching his fists, Sasuke's Sharingan spun madly for a moment before he took a deep breath and deactivated it. "Alright… Let's go get something to eat. I don't think it is a good idea for us to disperse just yet. We'll need to train some more to stand up to these guys. …Isn't that right, sensei?"

Naruto said nothing as he stood directly behind the fence, leaning against it with his eyes closed. It seemed that they understood that was a yes and headed out with Konohamaru and company to get something to eat. As soon as they did, he frowned as this was not what he had expected.

There would be two demon vessels taking apart of this years exam. …That could not end well. He had to inform Itachi and the Third about this.

* * *

"Perfect… Two demon vessels are taking apart of the exams." Yugito groaned as she happened to be in the office, returning from a B-rank mission, when Naruto informed the Third of what he had sensed.

Hizuren could only sigh and nod in agreement. He knew that Suna was sending Gaara and his two siblings to the exam so there was no surprise there… But he knew things were going down hill when he was alerted the Rock had sent two teams… Now one of their gennin happened to be their newest vessel. "I don't know where they got a new vessel from… The other they use to possess from what I know is still on the run."

"And a new vessel of the four tails would have to be about eight years old at the oldest if they caught him without our knowing." Yugito sighed as she scratched her head. "I know I was about two when they sealed Nibi within me after the cat's last vessel past away. I don't think they can be much older then I…"

"They can be." Naruto stated as he closed his eyes and listened to what his mother was telling him. "Mother had another vessel before me… The wife of the First Hokage it seems. She was twenty when mother was sealed within her and she was perfectly fine. It is all a matter of what seals are used in the process."

The Third simply nodded as he knew the women well as the First happened to be his sensei, as was the Second, before he sighed once more. "I still doubt he has the four tails as Jiraiya has been tracking him and has his exact location… However what disturbing to me now is the seven tail vessel went missing a few years back… Almost weeks after Naruto killed the five tail vessel."

"You aren't saying… You believe the Rock caught her instead of the Akatsuki?" Itachi finally broke the silence with narrowed eyes as he didn't like what he was hearing in the slightest. "Wait, what about the eight tails? We haven't heard anything about him since the Cloud's civil war started last year."

"That is a possibility as well. We have not heard from either side and E hasn't really been sending much information to us as we have been covertly supporting the resistance with financial support and supplies." Sarutobi admitted though he highly doubted that as he knew E wouldn't let his brother get captured by the Rock so easily.

"So we're back to square one… We have no clue what demon he possesses as we don't even know which ones the Akatsuki have captured." Yugito hissed as the situation was rather irritating. "Right now there is no way to tell what bijuu he has until he releases its powers and then it could be too late."

"We can only hope that our gennin stay clear of him as of right now." Naruto said as he knew after running into Raiu and Gaara Sasuke would steer his team clear of them at all costs. "Supplying them information about their opponents is against the rules as they have to find that out on their own. We can only tell them there is a second vessel in the exams."

Hizuren nodded in agreement once more as Naruto was dead on. If they were given any information about who was in the exams they would be automatically disqualified unless given by a friendly unit that was also in the exam. "Thank you for informing me of this Naruto… But there is nothing else we can do except watch our own gennin and protect them if we must. You're dismissed"

"That was all I was expecting." Naruto said before tilting his towards Yugito before motioning her to follow as he was slightly hungry.

Yugito could only shrug. For once Naruto was taking the initiate… She wasn't sure if this was a good or bad as he rarely ever did such a thing. And the Third's and Itachi's snickering wasn't helping at all. Oh how she wanted to just punch them in their faces.

Smiling as she walked out the room, following after Naruto, both Sarutobi and Itachi grumbled as both sported newly formed black eyes.

* * *

"This is so annoying… The exam doesn't start till ten. Why are we here at nine?" Kerlya complained as she couldn't see the benefits of arriving a whole hour early as it would simply turn them into targets for those that had already arrived or those that arrived soon after they did.

Sasuke only shrugged as he only came here only as Sakura was already waiting for them. "I don't really know nor do I really care. Sakura has been here for a while so I came and picked you up so that we can be here as a team and not leave her on her own."

"I don't think she would mind that. Looks like she's too absorbed in her book… Hey isn't that the third addition? The one based on the cat eared girl and her fox-like champion?" Kerlya commented as she pointed at Sakura sitting on a bench before the academy reading now a green covered book which piqued her curiosity to which version it was.

Twitching as Sasuke couldn't believe Kerlya knew which books was what number in the series, and especially knew the description of the main characters in the book, the Uchiha simply sighed as he stepped before her before noting Neji was leaning against a pillar nearby. "Hyuuga… Why are you here so early?"

"Tenten and Lee should be getting here soon as well. We're going to be scouting the competition to see if there are any threats, Uchiha." Neji responded blandly as he was still a little miffed from their last spar as Sasuke overwhelmed him quite easily after catching a few flaws in his assault. "Speak of the green beast…"

"YOSH!" Lee burst onto the scene with his exuberant flare and a fist pumped into the air. "It seems that your eternal rival and his team are here as well Neji! …Sakura-chan! Will you go out with me?"

Everyone had a large bead of sweat falling from their heads as Lee hadn't even noticed Sakura sitting on the bench before he did notice her and hearts filled his eyes. However, Sakura only blinked and pulled her book down to see who spoke. "I'm sorry… Did you say something?"

At that moment, Neji began to snicker as Lee began to over-enthusiastically cry as streams poured down his cheeks. "Oh just like Gai-sensei's hip rival!"

"Wait what?" Sakura scratched her head as she had no clue what had just transpired. "Lee I honestly didn't hear you. I was too absorbed in my reading and you know I can't hear anyone when that happens!"

It seemed Lee was ignoring her this time going on about a rant of youth and bring Sakura back to the light leaving the pink haired girl rather ticked. She was okay with their enthusiasm, her father obviously toning it down before her as it was just a mask, but to ignore her by using the flames of youth…

Lee suddenly found himself in a human-shaped crater and a large bump on the top of his head as Sakura began to rage. "Would you shut up about your youth for a damn second and listen you twit? How many times do I have to do this to get my point across? I am oblivious to everything when I'm absorbed into my reading!"

"Lee went off on one of his Sakura rants again?" Tenten grinned as she arrived and parked herself next to Neji, grinning at the scene unfold before her as Neji simply nodded. "Ha! This is so much more fun then rating the creepiness of their sunset genjutsu."

"You actually rate that? I was petrified from it as my Sharingan couldn't pierce it!" Sasuke looked horrified at the thought that they were completely immune to that illusion and somewhat upset that there were something that his Sharingan just couldn't defeat.

"Yep. There isn't much more to do when they start hugging." Tenten commented as Lee ran over to her, covering his head as Sakura shook her fist at him. "Ready to go Lee or have you still haven't learned that she hates being ignored?"

At this Neji couldn't help but bust out laughing as Lee only nodded while looking like a frightened puppy and looking for anyone to console him. He couldn't help himself. The boy acted so tough and secure about everything but one angry rant from Sakura reduced him to this.

"You know… You shouldn't be so loud." A voice caught their attention and immediately everyone was on guard until an elder Konoha ninja with silver hair stepped before them. "You don't want to make yourself targets so quickly, do you?"

Both Neji and Sasuke narrowed their eyes as they immediately caught how many teams had arrived to see what was going on. That definitely wasn't what they had been planning but thankfully neither Gaara nor Raiu was there. Those were the last two people Sasuke wanted to have target them.

"But never mind about that… It happens to many first timers taking the exams. I take some time and experience to learn what to do and what not. Oh, the name is Kabuto by the way." The purple clad gennin introduced himself with a slight smirk. "It just so happens that I have a little information that might help you."

Both Sasuke and Neji narrowed their eyes sharply. While some information from a friendly source was normally something they would think twice about but this was a guy they didn't even know and he was offering them information despite needing to pass the exams as well. Something didn't feel entirely right about him.

"And what is this information that you have that could be so vital for us?" Kerlya quickly questioned as she could see the subtle stiffness of her two comrades and felt like she needed to be on guard just in case.

"Well it just happens that I was able to pull some strings from a chunin friend of mine that is going to be an examiner for this first test… And he managed to get me the data we have on all those taking the test this year. So if there is anyone that you are interested in I could pull up the stat cards for you." Kabuto stated, with a slight blush as he hadn't acquired all this information himself before pulling out a rather large deck of cards.

"No thank you." Lee suddenly spoke for everyone, completely oblivious to his friends' tenseness of the situation. "We will rather do this the honorable way and face our opponents without prior information of their abilities as they do not know of ours! That way everyone's youth may shine in the exam!"

Without knowing it Lee had accidentally, read fortunately, had spared the others from answering and defused the entire situation as Kabuto shrugged. "Have it your way. But I'll let you on a little secret… There are two very dangerous competitors this year. One from the Sand and the other from the Rock. So I would try to avoid their teams if you can."

"I look forward into meeting you later in the exams!" Kabuto chirped as he turned and walked away, waving at them as he did so.

Watching his retreating back until he was no longer visible, Sasuke softly spoke so only the others could hear. "Avoid him at all costs… Something is definitely not right about him."

"Agreed." Was all Neji said as he activated his Byukugan just to keep track of Kabuto, not trusting him in the slightest. "I'm not sure why… I know he wants something from us… And whatever he wants cannot be a good thing."

As the others, Lee and Sakura mainly, looked at the two with some doubts about what the said both Tenten and Kerlya nodded their heads in agreement. Finally the latter spoke with a slight growl. "Something tells me these exams are going to be a lot more trouble than they're worth."

No one doubted her for they knew that was true.

* * *

"So how many do you think your teams are going to do well this year." Asuma commented as all the jounin senseis of those participating in the exams had gathered, at a bar of course.

"Well it depends on the circumstances…" One of the jounin-senseis spoke, Genma if he was correct. "I know my team will do alright but I don't think they'll make it through the second round this year. There is a good bunch of potential chunin this year."

Asuma could only nod as he knew as much and went next as he brought up this subject, and cutting Gai off as he didn't want to hear the man scream out his response. "My group will do fine. I think they'll make the finals if there isn't a preliminary. If that's the case I'm not sure Chouji or Ino will advance. However I know Shika is more then chunin ready."

Waiting for his turn to explode, many were surprised when Gai only spoke enthusiastically and did not yell. "My youthful team will do wonderfully in all portions of this exam, even if there is a preliminary round!"

While many were shocked at how quiet Gai was compared to his normal self, Naruto only could chuckle as he sat by the man, taking a drink from his soda. He would have ordered a drink as he was a jounin and considered an adult but he just didn't like the stuff.

The only reason he was here was that Anko, Yugito, Itachi and Sarutobi had all convinced him to come here and socialize with his fellow jounin. Obviously he wouldn't speak if he could avoid it and would stay around those he knew. Since Gai was his only real friend here, outside Kakashi who he had no clue why he was present, he sat by him and the scarecrow.

Of course noting this silence, Kakashi slightly elbowed him and whispered into his ear. "You'll have to speak sooner or later. Might as well get it over with if you don't want to deal with Kurenai and her friends hounding you. Many of them still think your single and well you know… fair game."

Raising his eyebrow at Kakashi's eyebrow, he very slightly turned his attention to Kurenai and her group of women jounin. He couldn't help but frown as he noted that the girls seemed to be giggling and looking in his direction as others told their stories about how their kids would do.

He found it… Unsettling. It wasn't just girls around his age group that seemed to be fan girls. Some of them happened to be high ranking kunoichi and that could be a little problem. He was quite sure Sasuke's tactics would work on them at all.

"Great… Just great. All I need is adult fan girls." Naruto mumbled to the two men sitting next to him. "I'm beginning to wish I had ordered some booze… It would inebriate me enough so I wouldn't care about any of this. Or at the very least I wouldn't care about the trouble I might get in."

"We can arrange that." Gai grinned as he momentarily dropped his mask and gained a cruel smirk. Almost nobody knew it but Kakashi and Naruto but Gai could be quite deviant and he had the perfect drink in his mind to order the blonde.

Kakashi noted this look and sported an equal grin beneath his mask before shivering as he stood up to greet the blonde girl that entered the bar, looking rather annoyed. "Um… Hi Yugito. I promise we weren't corrupting Naruto at all."

"Ah-huh. Sure, keep lying to yourself." Yugito glared at the man before glaring at Gai, seeing his grin fade, she took her seat next to Naruto as Kakashi sat across from her. "Naruto, whatever you do… Don't ever act like these two. And Gai, shouldn't you behave? You don't want Sakura to hear about this."

Gai winced and simply nodded as he did not want Sakura to know anything about his habits outside of being with his team and their home life. Kakashi only took a swig of his drink as he was relatively safe. She had practically nothing on him outside of causing him bodily harm.

He opted on the side of caution and stayed silent lest he earn her wrath.

Glad the two were now behaving, Yugito the rest of his soda before she heatedly glared at the group of kunoichi eyeing Naruto. It was then she saw someone else and she turned a one-eighty and happily smothered her cheek against his. "Ah it so good to see you!"

"Aren't you the second examiner?" Kakashi finally spoke, somewhat hesitantly to make sure he didn't catch her ire. "Shouldn't you be watching to see how everything unfolds?"

"Nope! I told Lord Hokage I didn't feel good today and Anko took over for me!" Yugito stated in a bubbly sore of manner.

Kakashi immediately backed off as thousands of alarms went off in his head. This kind of mood he had only seen once from her and he knew better to even cross Yugito right now. She was so volatile that she had become freakishly happy and possessive and would not hesitate long to cause bodily harm.

The last time anyone had angered her into such a state was when she learned Itachi threatened her boyfriend for crossing the line… She had mauled him so horrifically that he was in the hospital for two months and the Third had Jiraiya ready to seek out Tsunade's help. And she did it with only one weapon…

A shovel.

"Yugito…" Naruto narrowed his eyes before pushing her away from him as this was a quirk he found out he didn't like about her. It didn't help him that he had not learned about this until recently.

Catching the edge in his voice brought Yugito back to her norm as she grimaced lightly. "Sorry… Today has been really stressful and I needed to come here and relax and then I saw him…"

"It's fine." Naruto spoke softly as he noted Yugito's last boyfriend was there, being a jounin sensei to a team that entered the exams. "Are you still sore about what happened?"

"A little. I'm still upset about how the break up went down… And sometimes I still can't accept it. …I really liked him." Yugito smiled softly back at Naruto before gazing at the black haired jounin who lightly waved at her. "At least we're still friends but…"

A burning sensation filled Naruto's heart. He had not clue what this feeling was but all he knew about it was that he felt a lot of anger as he saw Yugito's pain but for some reason he felt hurt about this. He wasn't sure why as he had nothing to do with this as at the time he thought Yeizu was a good man.

"It's called jealousy, Naruto." Kakashi suddenly spoke out, catching both Naruto and Yugito completely by surprise. "I know you well enough and now what you are feeling. It's jealousy as you are jealous that they had such a close relationship and it doesn't seem you do and hate towards him for hurting her when they broke up."

Naruto somewhat felt like reaching over and strangling Kakashi for reading his emotions while he also felt grateful for at least now knowing what the hell this was he was going through. Now he had the problem of how to deal with it as this was the first time he ever had this particular feeling.

Yugito just wanted to reach out and kiss the man. Not that she would kiss him as that would get Naruto jealous… Wait, that might be a good thing? The more jealous he was the more his feelings for her would come out and then maybe this could actually work between them!

Laughing at Naruto's expense while Yugito gained a mysterious grin, the blonde simply twitching at them, Kakashi scooted over on the bench as Asuma and Kurenai joined them before the latter spoke. "So… Is it true that you two are going out?"

"Probably." Naruto cryptically answered as he wasn't going to say he was or wasn't. Right now their relationship was in the 'We'll see' category.

Twitching at the prince as he showed no emotion as he said so, Kurenai was ready to pry more when Yugito spoke out to at least give the woman information. "We could be… But we could not be. Neither of us really want to rush into a relationship right now so we both agreed to keep each other company but not as a couple."

"So… He's single then?" Kurenai licked her lips at the thought of the Prince being available as there were many women, herself included, that wouldn't mind taking shots at the young boy. Almost every girl had to admit they would to.

They wanted to be the one that melted the heart of the Ice Prince of Konoha.

Narrowing her eyes, ready to fight as she actually wanted more in their relationship then what they had at the moment, Yugito refrained from hissing. If this woman dared to hit on Naruto… "Naruto? What's wrong?"

"My kunai… It's active!" Naruto suddenly growled out before he faded into a flicker of yellow light so quickly that it was almost blinding to those in the bar.

They all knew what this meant and were on high alert. Something was horribly wrong.

* * *

"Two earth scrolls? God dammit." Kerlya groaned out as Sasuke brought back the scroll, somewhat annoyed that he went to take a leak and got ambushed.

However there was one very humorous thing that happened that made the Uchiha chuckle as he pulled up his zipper. His stream landed right in that attacker's face, particularly…

His mouth.

That guy wouldn't be able to get that taste out of his mouth for a while. And even when he did… He would never forget the memory.

EVER.

"Pfft… I thought three on one would be a challenge. I took care of those guys without even taking a single hit." Sasuke huffed though he wasn't going to admit it was only two on one. The one guy was out soon as he took a drink of his urine as he had become so distracted by trying to spit it out and dry heaving.

"Well relieving yourself onto him probably had something to do with it." Kerlya humorously grinned as she smelt Sasuke's scent on the one guy's face.

"Meh, it got the job done. We might be able to trade with another team or put them in a position where they have to switch a scroll with us." Sasuke shrugged his shoulders as what worked worked. Simple as that.

Shaking her head, trying to get rid of the image of Sasuke taking a leak on the pour gennin's face, Sakura shivered and pointed ahead. "We should keep moving forward. There's a river not too far from this position and it would be best if we trail it for a while."

"I agree… But we should keep a little distance from it too." Kerlya commented as it was a good idea to stay by water but had it's down sides as well. "But we have to take in the fact that others will be thinking the same and if we run into one of the Rain teams or someone with a high water affinity we could be helping them out."

Listening to their points, Sasuke nodded in agreement. "We'll trail the river from a distance after we fill our canteens and catch some fish when we get there. We'll stop in a few hours to scout out the area and rest before continuing at midnight to catch others by surprise."

"Be prepared for combat and have your weapons ready incase we cross paths with another team… And if we should run into Raiu's, Gaara's or Kabuto's team… Hope we can outrun them. I don't like our odds against them." Sasuke finished with a slight tremble as all three really made him feel uncomfortable.

"What about that grass guy?" Kerlya worried as she could smell there was something not right about him. "After Anko scraped your cheek with that kunai… The way that guy moved… It was not natural."

"I agree… We should avoid them as well. I don't scare like I use to and… He gave me goose bumps. There was something not right about him." Sakura added as that gennin really made her nervous just from a glance.

Only nodding as the gennin threw him as well, Sasuke sighed before slicking his hand through his hair. "His team to. Anyone else is free game and I hate to say this but if we run into another Konoha team outside of Neji's… We'll take them out if they have a heaven and won't give it to us."

Both Sakura and Kerlya winced at such a confrontation but knew it could be necessary for them to make the next round. Only nodding, they flanked Sasuke he took to the trees and headed towards the river.

But soon after Sasuke was getting a chill in his spine. Something wasn't right… It felt very much like the time Hidan and Kakuzu struck except it was not so oppressive as the pressure they admitted. It was tolerable in comparison.

He was glad he wasn't the only one that had noticed it as he saw Sakura shiver as Kerlya's eyes darted from side to side, looking for someone to appear. Pulling to a stop, Sasuke simply motioned and formed a triangle and looked around for the reason of the dread.

"This… This doesn't feel good. It feels like it was back in the Wave." Kerlya shivered as she was the most vulnerable to the dread with her heighten senses.

"It is… Something tells me this isn't coming from a gennin but something more." Sakura bit her lip to keep the fear from over taking her as she had only felt this kind of force once before and she had no other experience against such killing intent.

While he had come to that conclusion as well Sasuke did not want to hear that. It was one thing to make comparisons and think something for yourself but to have it verified by another… Ugh, that made him have to shiver to remove the doubt from his being.

Activating his Sharingan to give him better vision and check to see if anything was out of the ordinary, Sasuke gritted his teeth as he could see nothing but knew there was indeed something there. "Be careful… Something is coming but I do not know…"

All the foliage suddenly burst into chaos as a powerful gale of concentrated wind exploded before him and enveloped all three of them. Barely seeing this attack coming, he managed to stay his ground thanks to the tree climbing exercise. The same could not be said for Sakura and Kerlya.

Yet it seemed luck was upon them as while they were blown back a little, Sakura's sheer will kept her in position as Kerlya drove her steel claws into a nearby tree to keep from being blown away. Finally the wind burst ended and Sasuke jumped back into position with them as the grass ninja jumped on a tree branch before him while the other two kept going, passing them and quickly cutting off any possible retreat.

"Shit… This isn't good." Sasuke bitterly commented as there was hardly any time to react as it seemed they had planned on attacking them. "We don't have a choice here… We have to fight him."

"Well isn't that impressive…" The grass gennin mused as all three had kept their ground from his attack. "It seems all three of you are exceptional ninja. But I wonder… If you can stop this!"

The intent to kill rose significantly as their eyes locked with their attackers. They muscles tensed before images began flashing before their eyes. Images of their own death. Movement was suddenly cut and nothing they could do could force them to move.

Sasuke was the only exception. The tomoe in his eyes swirled for only a moment before the illusion bestowed on him was undone. The intent to kill still remained but it was through eye contact and the fear that allowed the genjutsu to work.

And no genjutsu, besides their own clan's fourth stage illusion, could defeat the Sharingan. Maybe confuse and deceive it with illusions... But never defeat it.

Snapping Sakura and Kerlya out with a slap to their cheeks, Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the ninja before him. "This guy… There is something seriously wrong about him but… If we beat him the other two will probably let us go. Focus all your attacks onto him."

"Shall I start then?" Sakura a very, very small smirk as she popped her knuckles on both fists as she gazed at the enemy grass ninja.

Sasuke and Kerlya shivered. That tiny smirk was a result of Naruto's training… Or perhaps it was something that was always there. But they both knew what it meant. She was going to enjoy every ounce of pain she was going to inflict upon this unfortunate gennin.

They did not envy him.

The bark beneath her cracked as she rocketed off and was almost upon the grass ninja. Looking at her with surprise at the show of speed he became further surprised as a fist connect to his cheek.

In the very next moment all he knew was the pain of his jaw bone dislodging from its hinges as he took soaring to a nearby tree trunk and smashed into it, the said tree groaning from the pressure.

But he easily threw this off as if he was use to such pain and rolled out of the next blow as Sakura landed onto the spot he once possessed. Throwing what seemed to be a gentle finger thrust, Sakura barely moved under the strike and hissed in pain as it graced her shoulder. Whatever he was doing with his chakra almost burned her skin just from the slight contact and without hesitating she threw an upper cut for his sternum.

To her surprise he used her shoulders and pushed off her to leap away from the blow and onto a branch, forcing the girl onto her knees from the amount of pressure he placed onto her. Narrowing his eyes as she was about to spring forth and plow into him, he jumped into the air only to hear a rustle of the leaves around him.

There was no way to avoid Kerlya fang as she spun into him only for him to suddenly dissolve into mud as if he had never been there in the first place. Landing besides Sakura, both girls looked around to see where he had placed himself before hearing the groan of wood below them.

It was too late. The grass ninja burst from the thick branch with two kunai in hand and aimed for the kill.

A clang of metal was heard as at that exact moment Sasuke appeared right in front of him with two kunai of his own knocking the blades from the grass ninja's grip. Ducking down, not really expecting a blow he used the momentum of his arms and swung his blades to the ninja's ribs only to see his knee coming straight for his face.

Sasuke didn't flinch as he ripped the kunai through his opponent's rib cages and watched the knee dissolve into mud, only a centimeter from his face. Standing up, forming a triangle position with his girls, in a non possessive (read sexual) way, the Uchiha's eyes gazed the sight before him. "Sakura, I'm going to engage in close range. I want you to back me up and Kerlya I need you and your partner to provide us mid range assistance and attack if you see an opening."

"Got it!" Kerlya barked as she fed Ralts a pill and quickly turned him into a clone of her. "We'll watch your back!"

"Sakura, let's go!" Sasuke ordered as he caught sight of their attacker and took off up a tree, Sakura in quick pursuit as Kerlya slowly paced behind them.

The grass ninja was caught slightly off guard. Soon as he emerged from a branch directly above the Konoha gennin Sasuke and Sakura had rushed up to separate trees and quickly engaged him.

Slipping to the side of Sasuke's blow, he ducked beneath a fist from Sakura and kicked her back as he struck a gentle finger tap to Sasuke's gut. Sasuke rolled back from the blow, hissing as Sakura had done before but was given no chance to recover as he was on him in an instant only to dodge a bladed claw to his face.

Using chakra in her hands to grab a hold of the branch, Kerlya flipped up and on the branch and growled as Ralts joined Sakura on the other side. "This isn't going to work. This guy wants to engage you for some reason. The entire time up his focus was only on you. We need to attack him all as a team."

"Great… Another enemy of the Uchiha. Typical." Sasuke only grunted as he stood to his feet, the skin of his stomach burning from the grass ninja's blow. "He seems to partially emulate the Hyuuga's style but the difference is he is targeting the skin and burning it with his… _poisonous_ chakra."

"Poison?" Sakura narrowed her eyes before her hand glowed a soft green and checked her shoulder. "Don't worry about it! The body natural chakra dispels it after a minute as the amount of his chakra getting out is minute a best."

"A medic? …Now that is interesting." The grass nin mused to himself once more as he turned his attention from Sasuke to the pink haired girl before narrowing his eyes.

Something wasn't right about her. The impact of her blow was far greater than anticipated and she was quick, a trait all medics shared, and she seemed to have a very good grip of medical jutsu. These traits led his thought trail off to a particular blonde haired woman.

That nearly cost him his head.

Jumping down from Kerlya's and Ralts' attack, the grass nin landed on the branch below for he dodged a hail of kunai from both Sakura and Sasuke. But each was poorly thrown as if… If they weren't planned for him! Quiet clever and excellent team work. They didn't even have to communicate for this assault.

"NOW!" Sakura yelled as she pulled tightly on the ninja wire attached to the weaponry along with Sasuke before going through a series of hand seals after the wires wrapped around their opponent tightly.

"KATON: RYUKA!"

Two streams of fire poured from their mouths taking the shape of a small dragon as they trailed down the wires, seeking their target. But it seemed outside of a light struggle the grass nin didn't even bother to break free of the wires or use a substitution to get out of the flames as they engulfed him.

Kerlya narrowed her eyes as she listened to the scream, drawing forth her senseis kunai. Something was horribly off about this entire situation. This guy they were fighting. His friends weren't helping him and instead they were just standing back and watching. But more importantly it was the feeling he gave her and thanks to her heighten senses she knew they would die if this kept on.

This man felt like that of their senseis. And that frightened her.

Both Sakura and Sasuke caught this and were about to say something when their blood ran cold as the grass nin's voice changed as a loud cackle was heard. "So strong and so young… You both will make perfect vessels for me. An Uchiha and a Tsunade reborn. You two or mine!"

Two heads suddenly shot out of the debris the flames had caused, aimed straight for both Sakura and Sasuke without any warning and it was upon them. But in a flicker of golden light the two heads fell and dispersed into mud.

"Orochimaru!" Naruto growled out as his anger at the man that caused his human mother figure so much pain in her life. "Your presence here in the leaf is unwelcome! I shall take your head for this!"

"Kukuku… Do you really think that I'm still here, Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru's raspy voice surrounded them all as the man used his ventriloquism to his advantage. "I've already retreated my boy… Soon as I saw that girl with your special kunai. I won't die here today and there will always be another chance to mark them later."

"Besides my boy… You are valuable to me to. Take care of those annoying black and red flees for me, will you?" Orochimaru laughter began to die down before it disperse altogether as the man truly was no longer there, probably having used a shadow clone to speak with him in the first place.

Keeping his rage in check and suppressing Kyuubi's chakra, thanks to his wooden bracelets, Naruto returned to his passive form and sighed. "Stay here for a moment… I clear this with the Third and Anko so you can continue. This should not have happened and you will not be punished for my intervention here. …It was necessary."

With a flash Naruto was gone to report this encounter. Oh Hizuren would not be happy to hear about this at all. He didn't just want the Sharingan. And that was what disturbed him.

How did he know what made Sakura special?

* * *

**A/N**: Alright, there is the chapter and I hope you enjoyed. Funny enough… The length of this chapter forced me to stop at this point and make the prelims, possibly the third test, into one chapter. All of this means that I'm back on track with my notes and chapter summaries. Which just let me point out that my plan is to have fourty-one chapters(. So if I keep burning, read producing, chapters... We're in good shape!

Also I've noted a few reviews, in a row, asking if I had a beta. Well… Not for this story. I have one for A Red Dawn but lately… I forgot about him. But if anyone is able and willing to, I would like a beta for this story as I'm going off plan after this portion of canon to add onto the story length to develop Naruto and Yugito's relationship before sliding back into my final sequence. I would go into details but… Then that would just ruin the fun!

Oh there is a small bit in the bar scene that actually refers back to my writing when I first came to fanfiction and couldn't write myself out of a paper bag. For those that have been loyal readers that long you will get it and thank you being with me this long. And for those that haven't been it was still funny, at least to me. I don't know what you think if funny but hey… If you are reading my stuff that means on some level you like my humor.

If you have anything to say you know the drill and I'll get back to you if you have a question. For I am the Zen Master and We Shall See!

P.S.: Also if anyone knows what the claw weapon thingy that I have Kerlya wield is, please give me the name. I went online and researched then came back to my story then poof. I forgot.

Peace Out!


	17. A Show of Strength

This job was becoming too much for the old Hokage. If he was only a few years younger he could have easily cooped with this and properly responded. But now… He was just too old to make the call.

He needed to cancel the exams from what Naruto told him. The snake had planned this and did not just want Sasuke, something he had suspected. He also wanted Sakura and now with the files before him he could see why. "This is a worst case scenario… I'm unsure if even continuing these exams is wise as it would give him more time to succeed in his goal."

"However your point is noted, Naruto." Hizuren deeply sighed as he lean back into his chair with regret seeping from his tear ducts. "If we continue… We will be able to root out some of our spy problems… As there is definitely one in the hospital if he knows about this. But I must ask… Why do I only know just now?"

"It wasn't until recently that we even had her blood on file, Lord Hokage." Mikoto responded as Naruto had asked her to come with him for an explanation. "I brought her back for a few more test because I noted something strange in her blood and now that we have a full report on her body structure… There is no doubt."

"From how her tight and compact her muscles are to how her chakra flows seem to be a near perfect match. That is why I've begun to train her in higher grade medical jutsu as she can quickly pick up anything thanks to her understanding of chakra flow and natural book smarts." Mikoto continued as Sakura had shattered her expectations from the start and completely surprised her how quickly she picked everything up.

Looking at the Third, who was looking at Mikoto and back to the papers he had been handed when they arrived, Naruto had a little to add. "I know it is hard to believe but one does not have to be of the same blood to have these traits. The chances of that are extremely slim but it is still possible. From what or records report Sasuke is also a complete match for body structure and build as Madara for his age."

"That is why you wanted me to watch over him… Didn't you?" Naruto suddenly stated with narrowed eyes as he had expected such ever since Mikoto gave him her son's files after he accepted their team. "You knew that and so did you Itachi… That is why you said he had more potential then you."

Sighing as he was only here as Sasuke was targeted by Orochimaru, Itachi simply glanced at the Third before nodding. "I did and yes I did request Sasuke to have you be his sensei. I would do it myself but since he is my brother I could not take the team. Now that we know about Sakura as well… It was the right decision to add her onto the unit as well."

"I agree but…" Naruto stated as he could accept that he was in the best position to guard either due to the potential they would have later in life. "This was something that did not need to be hid until now. If I knew this was more about guarding them…"

"You would not have grown as attached to them as you are now." The Third interrupted as he looked at the young boy with a sad smile. "That was the other reason for becoming their sensei. You've been a cold and calculated machine since you were six and since they arrived in your life you have been coming out of your shell."

"Indeed." Itachi added one word as that had been one thing he had counted on as had the rest of Naruto's close friends and family had.

Shaking her head as she had nothing to do with any of this, Mikoto sighed as she picked up her documents and resealed them for safety procedures. "If this is all Lord Hokage I would take my leave. It is nearly the fifth day and I need to make sure everything is in order for the medics in the exams as Anko has informed me there will have to be a prelim."

Hizuren nodded and let her leave as she had a job to do being the head medical official for the chunin exams. Once she had, he could only smile as the exams were truly becoming interesting as there hadn't been a prelim in the last ten exams. It really showed the talent that this year's crew possessed.

"So what are we going to do about Sasuke and Sakura's safety? I know you aren't going to cancel the exams and sooner or later they will advance to chunin and won't have me to guard them any longer as we'll have the Akatsuki to deal again." Naruto asked while mentally growling as he remembered what Orochimaru had said.

Sarutobi couldn't help but sigh again as both Itachi and Naruto looked at him expectantly. Rubbing his temple as his two head ninjas sometimes gave him headaches as they expected things to be handled immediately, he took a deep breath. "For now there is nothing we can do about this… Not until we located all of Orochimaru's hideouts. Since we only know of a few we cannot launch an attack on him as of now."

"An attack?" Itachi immediately caught this as odd as it made it seem that there would be a large scale… "Wait a second… What's going on here?"

Naruto stayed silent as he caught the implications and only gazed at the Hokage as he removed his hat. "The Village of Sound… We know that it belongs to Orochimaru… So when these exams end there is only one thing that can be done."

"We will declare war on the Sound."

* * *

"What the fuck?" Kiba yelled as he listened to Kerlya's story about her team's run in with Orochimaru and how their sensei forced him to flee. "Not only did you survive a run in with the damn traitor but you weren't disqualified for your sensei jumping in to save you guys! …You're lying."

"No she isn't Kiba." Shikamaru groaned at the troublesome heir of the Inuzuka clan while he had listened to Kerlya. "He wasn't even supposed to be there and it is perfectly legal for _anyone_ to jump in if there is an _S-rank_ threat trying to capture or kill some of the contestants."

"And since there sensei is the _Prince of Konoha_…" Tenten added as she had listened, ready spied on, to the tail having heard something from the chunin that a certain snake had tried to interrupt the exams. "I doubt even a criminal like Orochimaru would stand his ground instead of retreating against the likes of him."

None of team seven decided to bring up Zabuza or those black cloak men up. Those three had willingly gone against Naruto and they decided it was best for everyone not to know that there were those willing to fight him.

Grimacing as he knew that name well, Kiba dropped his accusations. If the Prince was involved he wasn't even going to say another word about this subject. That guy's name scared him as he heard stories from his mother and sister about what he was able of. He thought some of it was complete bull but…

He wasn't going to confront the guy and test his theories. Especially seeing all the senseis had arrived and were standing on the balconies above them and the blonde was sitting there, looking at him.

So dropping the subject, Kiba groaned as he stretched his arms and waited for the third proctor to show up as it was nearing the end of the fifth day. "The guy better show up soon. I'm getting bored… Hey Uchiha, there is something I have to ask you?"

Raising his eyebrow as he had been staying silent this entire time as he didn't want to give anything away with Raiu and Gaara so close by, Sasuke only shrugged and let the Inuzuka heir go on with what he wanted to say. "I got to know man… Why don't you at least go at with some of those girls that idolize you? I mean some of them are pretty hot, outside of Ino and Sakura."

If Kiba could have died from the death glares he had received (from Ino, Sakura, Lee and Sasuke) he would have died in a horribly mutilated fashion. But since he didn't the Uchiha only smirked and shrugged his shoulders again. "I'm not really interested in dating those daintily girls. Sakura has proven to be anything but and at least I can see Ino is trying to train."

Watching Ino blush furiously from his complement, seemingly glad she had listened to Yugito's advice, Sasuke continued with a little more information. "Besides there are very few I actually like as they are attractive and train their bodies and minds so I wouldn't have to worry as much about them being harmed or hurt in anyway."

Kiba was curious about this. While he had a feeling Sasuke liked girls it was just disheartening to watch all the attractive ones just fall for one guy and not paying attention to any other guy. "Oh, is that so? Give me some names."

Twitching as the Inuzuka was pushing him to reveal who he thought was good looking, Sasuke shrugged as it wouldn't hurt anything. "Well for starts I have to say I liked both Kerlya and Sakura as they both have what I look for in a girl. I have to say Ino is starting to as well and definitely Tenten."

"Now for those outside of this group." Sasuke had no clue he had every girl from Konoha blushing and all of the Konoha sensei's attention. "Our temporary sensei, Yugito I find very attractive but since I know I won't ever land her it really doesn't matter. Also I would have to say your sensei and sister Kiba, no offense."

"Don't you dare hit on my sister!" Kiba growled as he was fine if Sasuke wanted to hit on Kurenai but his sister was a whole different story. "I've already beaten up some of her boyfriends and I won't hesitate to kick you right in the balls."

Grinning as he had something to hold against Kiba if they had to fight, the door to the forest opened to reveal a team from the Sound entering. While two looked rather fine the third had his arms slung in sleeves and was grimacing in pain from every step. And at that very moment a loud poof reverted his attention to the front.

"Well it seems you are just in time… So everyone here congratulations! You've past the second exam!" Anko beamed with her psychotic grin as she looked on at the gennin that stood before her. "So now that you are here our Hokage will have a few words with you."

Hizuren, who had mostly everyone's attention when the group arrived, stepped besides Anko and warmly smiled at those that had arrived. "I also have to congratulate you on making it to this point. It isn't often that we have this many make it to this point of the exam. For you see… These exams are a replacement for war."

"It used to be in the past that our villages tested our strength against one another to prove who was the strongest and to bring more business to our villages. But over this last decade of peace the Kages of each village got together and came up with these exams so that way we still have a way to show our skill to our clients and booster our economies." The Third continued as he looked at those who were standing before him and nodding.

"Yugito will be your examiner for this next portion so I will let her take over." The old Hokage finished before taking a step back to allow Yugito to take control.

Somewhat upset that the Third had decided to only push her back to the Third examiner instead of just pardoning her from the whole process, Yugito's eyes twitched as she looked at the bunch before her. "As the Hokage said earlier there are many of you here today… In fact there is too many and we will have to dwindle your numbers down further."

"We don't have time to waste for our clients so only the very best will be allowed to make it to the final portion so we will be holding a preliminary bout." Yugito uttered in an emotionless tone, something she was glad she picked up from Naruto. "But before we can start I will ask if there is anyone that wants to drop out now. Your team will not be punished as from now on this is about individual skill."

"I will then." The injured Sound gennin stated as he couldn't even raise his arms due to what happened in the forest. "I can't proceed in these exams like this."

"You are Abumi Zaku? …You may leave." Yugito said as she pulled out a clip board and checked his name off after he nodded in consent. "Is there anyone else or are all of you ready?"

"Alright. Join your senseis on the balconies and the first match will commence shortly." Yugito ordered as she handed the clip board to Anko so she could input the names into the computer.

It took a few moments of shuffling but everything was sorted out as the gennin made it to their senseis, splitting it down to all the Konoha gennin one side and the other villages on the other. So now all that was left was for Anko to input the names…

"WORK YOU FUCKING COMPUTER! DIE STUPID THING DIE!"

"Someone please go help her." Yugito groaned at Anko's lack of computer skills and knew if someone didn't help her she would destroy it and they would have to do this by lot. And she preferred it if it was done by computer as that would limit the chances of someone rigging the matches.

After a few chunin sorted out the problem in a few seconds, which put them into the medical wing of the tower due to Anko's rage, the electronic board finally emerged and the names began to randomly flicker across it and finally two competitors were chosen.

Sasuke couldn't help but grin at the names on the board. Not only was he going to go first but not only was he not going up against Gaara or Raiu… He was going to get to fight Kiba. He was already in his head and could take advantage of it.

"Don't kill him." Was all Naruto said as he noticed the look Sasuke had and began to wonder if his training truly did warp all three into something more like… Anko.

That was a disturbing thought to him. He rather had molded them to be more like Yugito or Itachi then to be like Anko.

Finding his way into the arena, glancing at Kiba, Sasuke's smirk couldn't help but get a little wider. Oh this was going to be so easy. He didn't even think his Sharingan would be necessary for this. Once he pulled off his plan it would be over.

"Alright… You both seem ready so let us begin this. Uchiha Sasuke vs. Inuzuka Kiba commence!" Yugito bellowed as she motion for the competitors to start.

Grinning as Kiba sunk into his stance Sasuke looked rather aphetic to the situation and stood laxly but kept his devilish smirk. "Hey Kiba… Just one more thing before we start this…"

"What?" Kiba growled as this was supposed to be a fight and he was going to wipe the floor with the Uchiha with Akamaru's help. Then he might be popular with all the girls.

"I just have to say there is one more girl I think is really, really hot." Sasuke spoke as if there was nothing wrong with he was about to say. "I would certainly like to bed your MOM!"

Dozens of smacks were heard as half the room face planted into the concrete. Among those were Naruto, Yugito, the Third, Sakura, Ino… All Konoha ninja while most none Konoha ninja looked amused if they weren't a girl. The opposing kunoichi looked somewhat annoyed.

Something in Kiba's mind snapped at that very moment. He wasn't sure what it was but all he felt was utter hatred for his fellow leaf ninja. Then there was most certainly the rage of him wanting to be not only with his sister but his MOTHER. Oh he was going to kill this one. Yes he was.

It was insured.

Sasuke ducked and rolled underneath the raging Kiba, who came at him much faster then he thought he would have. It still was of no consequence to him, however. The blow had been quicker the attack had been off target. He was so enraged that he was unable to focus properly and aim his attacks.

As the Inuzuka kept slicing at him, Sasuke easily avoid each strike and kicked Akamaru away. Each blow was easier and easier to dodge and allow him to easily land a blow of his own but there was the fault of his plan. In such a state Kiba hardly felt any pain and his counter attacks were quite vicious.

They didn't land so it wasn't of concern for the Uchiha but with his Sharingan now active he had to be a little more careful. It seemed that every second last his rage was not quelling but instead being focus… Channeled and his accuracy was slowly returning. So this had to end otherwise he had essentially given Kiba a boost in strength.

Smirking as their eyes crossed, Kiba kept his attack going and kept swiping madly at Sasuke. But to his misfortune Sasuke dodge each strike and it was pissing him off further and he finally had enough. Swirling into his clan's classic attack, his fang caught the Uchiha but there was something wrong. There was nothing there…

In the very next moment a kick was delivered to his chin, sending the Inuzuka airborne to another Sasuke with his two hands clenched together before bring it down onto the top of Kiba's skull.

The Inuzuka crumbled onto the ground as the Sasuke below went up into a cloud of smoke and the real Uchiha landed next to Kiba. There was no doubt he had won.

So lifting his classmate onto his shoulder, he took his to the balcony and laid him down by his sensei. "Sorry about that but he made a weakness known and I took advantage of it."

Kurenai, while disappoint and not amused by his tactics, sighed and shook her head. Naruto only nodded at Sasuke's victory. "There is nothing off limits in battle… You did what you had to do and there is nothing else that needs to be said. However… Next time keep it tasteful. Your mama jokes are low blows."

"What works, works." Sasuke responded before realizing he had picked up Naruto's habit of saying a certain phrase rather often. He needed to kick that quickly…

"Probably." Naruto responded in normal fashion making Sasuke face fault as he could see the faintest grin on his sensei's face. Keeping his grin as he looked down at the arena the next few fights really weren't that special.

The fight immediately after Sasuke's happened to be between Dosu of the Sound and Aschen of the Rock. The black haired nunchuck wielding Rock kunoichi however seemed to be too much for the Sound wielder. His mounted arm weapon was unable to land a direct hit against her and was practically useless outside of defense.

However what caught his attention during the fight was the fluid motion and lack of anything truly special from Aschen. She used nothing but her nunchuck and her kicks to eventually overwhelm Dosu and knock him unconscious with a leg kick to his temple. He couldn't help but frown at that as he knew the girl was hold back in this fight, keeping a future opponent in the dark about what she truly could do.

Putting that to the side if Sasuke or Kerlya and Sakura ran into her in the finals, the next match was rather interesting. It wasn't that there was anything fancy or a powerful jutsu that was used… It was a match against two tacticians and ambush experts. A Suna puppeteer and a Nara of Konoha.

With nothing fancy to hide his work, like the sand dunes of his home, Kankuro had to use simple transformations and a genjutsu to hide his puppets true identities from his opponent. The problem was that Shikamaru was a born genius and he did not miss the signs.

While he took damage from Kankuro's puppets and nearly became bait for his trap it all went according to his plan as he caught Kankuro in his shadow and drew him into his very own puppet and forcing him to surrender when he threatened his life with his very own weapon.

The fight may have been dull but it was a fight between chunin, not gennin. They had both used deception, clever tactics and brought a necessary physical aspect that was needed in order to be a successful ninja later on in life.

But to Naruto's dismay the next fight was dull in comparison. Tsuchi Kin was an illusionist but not a very talented one. She needed to augment her skills with senbon and bells for a sound pitch to affect her enemy. The problem was her opponent just happened to be Tenten… The best weapon specialist he had seen in some time.

Every thrown senbon was match by one of her own, showing the extreme accuracy, before she moved the fight into close range. It was there, Kin was truly exposed as she hardly had the ability to keep up with Tenten's speed and strength not to mention a kunai versus naginata was not a fair weapon exchange.

Soon the girl from the sound was nicked with many cuts before Tenten gashed her horribly through a gap rib cage, dropping the girl and forcing Yugito to intervene and call medics to save the girl. The only good thing from it was that while Tenten was affected from her actions she seemed okay from inflicting such injuries on other.

Something for a kunoichi that was a must.

The next fight really, really bored Naruto. A fight between two of Konoha's close range specialist clans. The Akimichi and the Hyuuga.

The fight, if you call it that, was really a beating. While Chouji managed to deliver a hit or two early he failed to realize that Neji had allowed himself to get hit those times to disable his chakra points to keep Chouji from wielding his most dangerous techniques. A great move on his part and one that easily handed him the victory.

He absently noticed that Yugito wasn't very happy she had to referee these fights but paid no heed to it now as she signed on to be an examiner once their unit was put on hiatus. And it could also be that Kerlya was in the next fight against the formally annoying Yamanaka.

"Kerlya…" Naruto spoke as the girl was brimming and ready to fight and called her back. "Don't take her lightly. She has been training and being a part of one of the premier clans of Konoha you should know her techniques entail. …And show her what a true kunoichi is like for me, would you?"

"Not a problem sensei. I definitely will." Kerlya grinned as she headed to the floor below to face off with Ino, gazing at the girl. "Let's see what you got! Don't disappoint me after claiming you've trained so hard to get here!"

"Don't worry… I won't lose!" Ino replied back before she, very surprisingly, reveal a scroll just as Yugito gaze the signal for both combatants.

"Let's not make things messy you two!" Yugito ordered as she glared at both of them as she felt this fight might get a little bloody as Ino wanted to prove to Sasuke she deserved to be higher on his list and Kerlya wanted to be in the finals to prove her worth as a chunin. "Alright then… Fight!"

Kerlya quickly popped a pill to Ralts and was ready to use the Beast-Human transformation when to her surprise she saw a ninjato be removed from the scroll Ino had brought out. Put on guard by a sudden change of weaponry, she finished the transformation before pulling out a scroll of her own and tossing two claws to her partner and drawing her own.

On top Kiba growled at seeing Kerlya's weapon. "What is she doing? We're trained to fight sword wielders without a weapon of our own. She doesn't need such a weapon as our claws…"

"You are incorrect, Inuzuka." Naruto spoke as he watched Ino slice at Kerlya only for the blade to be deflected by her claws. "Each member of your clan specializes in a weapon in case they run into weaponry such as a sword. You don't know this as you haven't received that training as it is something that is usually begun once a clan member is a chunin. Kerlya started earlier at my request and Hana has taught her how to wield them with your clan's style."

As Kiba winced as he forgot that he could ask for the training earlier and was going to do so once this was said and done, Naruto focused back down onto the arena.

Kerlya was clearly in control of the fight. Sighing at this as she was figuring this would be more of a contest brought her claws to the ninjato before using her force to knock the blade away only for… "Shit a Clone?"

"Ha! Got you!" Ino said as she tripped her partner as her former genjutsu worked and tricked Kerlya and Ralts sense of smell into believe the clone was the real Ino before she closed the distance between her opponent. "Now stop this!"

"Shintenshin!"

With how fast Ino was upon her when she used that technique and collapses, Kerlya had not seen it coming and was unfortunate enough to have it make contact. Now she was at Ino's mercy despite how hard she tried to resist. It didn't take long for her opponent to take control as she had been training with her father.

But all hope was not lost.

"Proctor." The possessed Kerlya stated as she was ready to forfeit the match. "I surrender this…"

A bark broke her thoughts before her eyes widened as the transformed Ralts grinned at her, his claw at her collapsed body's throat. Oh she had thought she knocked the dog out. She was going to pay for this.

Returning to her body, Ino's eyes snapped open before groaning out. "I surrender."

"That was… Anticlimactic." Sasuke muttered as the fight was rather boring to watch despite the fact he could tell that Kerlya wasn't going all out. "She should have used some of her better techniques. She could have put that fight to rest earlier."

"She could of… But doing so was more beneficial. By not showing off many of her skills she has earned a greater victory for the next round as her opponent won't know what she is truly capable of." Naruto explained as he figured Sasuke knew this but it was better for it to be stated.

Sasuke simply nodded as he did know that. He just wanted an exciting fight to catch his interest or something. "Nicely done, Kerlya. No hope we don't have to face one another in the next round."

"I would hope not. I rather like a chance to be promoted." Kerlya twitched as fighting Sasuke in the next round would have been one of the worst case scenarios in her mind, outside of Gaara or Raiu.

Ignoring the two bickering like a couple, Naruto's attention was brought to the arena as the next contestants made their way to the floor. Gai's apprentice Lee versus the Aburame prodigy. Now this was going to be a fight that would test both.

Lee was so used to fighting direct opponents and Shino was not a direct opponent. Shino was used to dealing with those that tried to fight him in close range but the problem was he never faced a strictly hand-to-hand specialist and Lee could very well put him down quickly.

And so it seemed early on neither could get a foot hold on the other. Shino at first seemed to be in control as Lee got close only for him to explode into his kikai but… Without chakra they could do nothing more than irritate Lee with their bites. A big draw in the normal destruction bugs as it seemed Shino had not been trained with the flesh devouring version and other variants.

Then it was Lee's turn to take the fight to Shino and forced him into close range. Surprisingly, Shino was adapt to such a battle but against Lee he was getting beaten down and in a hurry. However the bug user was far from calling it quiets and with his kikai he started striking back and knocking Lee around as the swarm used their numbers to deliver extra blows.

But it was all for not as Lee's superior speed and strength became the difference as the swarm was unable to defeat him and with an airborne, downward kick to Shino's skull the match was over.

The next match… It was brutal. The heiress of the Hyuuga clan against the Rock ninja Satoshi… Known as the Ashes of the Rock. And it was apparent quickly in the fight… He hated Konoha.

Hinata by no means was incapable as a fighter. Quite the contrary. She was very, very talented. She was kind and shy but she was nearly a prodigy by Hyuuga standards as she worked out with Neji every day. But there was something wrong with Satoshi when she battled him.

Her attacks were doing nothing more than lightly bruises to him and no one could understand it. Her chakra was unable to pierce past his skin and hit his organs, nerves or coils. It was Neji that first noticed this and called out to his cousin. "HINATA! He's circulating chakra in his skin as a shield to keep it from piercing into his body!"

Growling at this, Hinata stepped back and looked at her opponent more carefully. She had been noticing his charka flowing in his skin as well but to think that he could use it like a shield was bothering. The amount of charka it required to pull such a feat off and the control made it difficult for her to believe a gennin could do it.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she narrowed her eyes as Satoshi began to laugh as his dark red eyes pierced into her pale lavenders. "I guess now that you know… I should stop treating you like a friendly opponent as I was told to. Now let me truly began. So prepare yourself for the terror that I will deliver upon to you!"

Suddenly the chakra that was being sent to his skin began to emanate and the layer of air around him started to shiver. The temperature of the room started rising drastically as his red hair began to flow in all directions. And finally his eyes began to glow brightly and for a split second there seemed to be flames within them before it happened.

An intense fire burst throughout the entirety of the bottom floor joined by super heated ash as if a volcano had erupted and filled the lower half of the stadium as jounin on both sides erect a barrier to protect those not in battle from the attack. However Neji tried to jump down into the arena but was held back by Tenten and Lee.

Hinata was screaming out in agony.

The smell of hair burning could be smelt by all and the sickening crack of a bone being broken was heard by those able to hear over the roars of the flames. Kurenai was ready to jump in and pull her student out when the ash and flames were snuffed out by a great gale.

And in the middle of the ring, Raiu was holding onto Satoshi snapped arm as Hinata lay on the concrete suffering from multiple second and third degree burns. Neji and Kurenai immediately leapt down for the girl as Yugito rose from the earth with a cough and called the match. "Medics!"

Mikoto was the first to respond as the injuries had not been bad till this point. This was going to be difficult for her to treat; however, as a quick scan showed her that the ash had gotten into her lungs and was burning them from the inside. "Get a stretcher her immediately! We're taking her straight to the hospital's ER!"

Moving her limp form onto the stretcher the two chunin medics brought, they dispersed into a swirl in hope to by some time and save her.

Raiu snarled at his partner before he tossed him to the side and darkled growled at him as a significant intent to kill be to emanate from his being. "You fucking fool! Are you trying to start a war? Why shouldn't I kill you now to keep the blame from hurting our village? We don't need any more shit to deal with!"

Satoshi as severely frightened tried to crawl back only to feel the wall behind him. He had never seen Raiu like this before and while he knew what he was… He did not want to anger him as he was a trained weapon despite his aloof and sometimes caring demeanor.

Darkly snarling at him for not responding, Raiu tossed Satoshi behind and towards a medic. "Don't heal his arm… Only straighten it and let it heal naturally."

The said medic was caught off guard by this and even more so from being given an order by the injureds team mate. However one nod from the team's jounin and the Hokage told him to do it as he took Satoshi away.

Raiu, however, did not leave the floor as he closed his eyes before the board flickered and his name was on it. Without even turning to see who his opponent would be. How he knew that his name would be on the board was beyond everyone else but one.

"Temari… Forfeit this fight." Gaara snarled as he restrained his killing intent after watching the scene unfold before him. "This one… Is like me. …If you don't, I will kill you if he doesn't."

Gulping as she was stuck in a bad situation here, Temari had no choice in this matter. It was either fight this guy and pray he would show mercy and then get killed by Gaara or her opponent killed her. Surrender was the best option. "I will not fight."

Without a flicker, Raiu appeared back beside Aschen and their sensei. Only one was sure what had happened as others thought it was pure speed. Naruto however knew what it was he had just seen…

Raiu… He bent time and space. Iwa now had a ninja that could use a space/time jutsu. That… That was not something he felt comfortable about at all as it was a demon vessel like him that could use that kind of technique. That was… Almost frightening. He confirmed the Hokage's suspicions with a nod as he too suspected it.

Naruto had to watch this kid over the month. Because… He could be the key the Rock had been searching for all this time to counter the flash.

He almost didn't hear Yugito as only two contestants were left for the fight. But he did and the Prince slightly _cringed._ "As there are only two fighters left… Will Sabaku no Gaara and Haruno Sakura come down for the last fight?"

Oh Yugito didn't like what she had said either. She knew no matter how strong Sakura had become since becoming part of Naruto's team she was not in the same league as a demon vessel as Gaara. She was hoping the girl would take the same road Temari had done and forfeit but as the sand began to swirl besides her she knew this was not a possibility.

"Sakura… I'll tell you right now… Do not hold anything back in this fight as neither Gai nor I might be able to save you." Naruto's face tensed as he looked down at Gaara to see how he was holding up.

"He's right Sakura… Be careful with this one and don't let your guard down. Go after him with all you got." Gai added as he stood by his child, keep his signature smile up to mask the worry he was feeling and hope that they were doing the right thing.

Smiling at both Naruto and her father, Sasuke lightly hugged Gai. "I can handle myself… Don't worry."

As she jumped to the ground, Yugito cursed as she looked at the two competitors. Gaara's eyes shone with a thirst for blood. And Sakura was not going to back down. She wanted to curse at Naruto and even more at Gai for encouraging her to fight.

Despite the lack stance Sakura took as she faced Gaara the air was tense. All on the Konoha's stands had their eyes on their fight and keeping their worries in check, some doing better than others.

Ino was doing the worse as she was ready to jump down and help Sakura as they were both still friends despite their competition for Sasuke during the academy almost wrecking their relationship. "What is she doing? That girl is going to get herself killed! I saw what he could do in the forest to those Rain gennin!"

"I must express my concerns here to… This one feels powerful. Too powerful." Shino stated as he looked down at the arena as he woke up from the blow Lee delivered him just after what happened to Hinata.

"Sensei… Please tell me you can intervene when this gets ugly. I know I can't even take this guy just from the aura he emits." Sasuke growled despite not taking his eyes off the two fighters as they prepared for battle.

"There isn't a need." Naruto said as he looked on; the only one among them showing no fear of the situation. "Out of every gennin here only two can combat Gaara. And only one is from Konoha. …Sakura is the only person capable of defeating him as of now."

"What? Are you kidding?" Ino hissed as she at the blonde sensei with narrowed eyes. "I know forehead has grown stronger but to suggest that she can beat someone Sasuke says he can't? Are you insane?"

"Probably." Naruto admitted without any hesitation as his mothers told him as much. "But I speak the truth… Sasuke can beat Sakura almost every time but Sakura has the exact tool set to counter Gaara despite their strength difference… And it is all because of what makes her truly special. …Almost unique."

"Alright… Enough wasting time. If both of you are ready, let this last match start!" Yugito stated a little later then she would have as she listened, not knowing there was something that made Sakura nearly unique.

Just what was Naruto talking about and why did Gai suddenly gain a look of understanding?

Gaara stood patiently as sand began to pour from his gourd and waited for Sakura to make her move. He knew there was something about this girl that would supply him with a challenge but it still would not be enough. He would kill her but first… He wanted to see what this special counter set for him was that her sensei was talking about.

Sliding into a more combat ready stance, Sakura took a moment to evaluate her opponent before rushing out to meet him. From the looks of the amount of sand that pour out that meant the gourd had plenty and it was also extremely heavy. So most likely his sand was meant for both offensive and defensive purposes so she would have to stay clear of it.

Next she was to notice was that he had no stance whatsoever and was just waiting for her to make a move. This could either be attributed to the fact that he was extraordinarily skilled in taijutsu and did not care about how good she was, he did not know how to fight in close range or… He let his sand do all the attacking.

Coming up with a strategy, Sakura took things slow at first. She wasn't going to hit maximum speed immediately to give this guy time to adjust. Besides there were only two people faster than she was and that was Sasuke and Lee without their weights, Sasuke his weighted jacket.

Arriving at the edge of Gaara's circular sand formation, the aloof boy did nothing as Sakura threw a punch towards him. His sand came to his defense and easily deflected the blow before stopping the spin kick from reaching his head. Growling, he pushed his sand towards her slam her into the wall.

This wasn't worth his time.

Jumping back as the sand came at her, she was surprised at the speed it came at her with and was pushed back into the wall with a loud thud. Still she hadn't seen everything she needed to yet. She doubted this was as fast as he could control his sand. So coming back, she picked up her speed and sped by the sand an attacked at a higher velocity.

"What the hell is she doing? Physical attackers aren't going to pierce through it! Senbon going the speed of sound couldn't pierce it!" Ino yelled out hoping Sakura heard her and would do something else that might work.

However both Kerlya and Sasuke knew Sakura wasn't fighting at full speed just yet. Smirking at one another, they stayed silent as they were about to see what Sakura was doing.

Gaara was about to regret he took his interested from her.

Being swatted away by his sand again, skidding back to regain her footing, a smirk crossed Sakura's lips as she gazed at Gaara. She knew his sand could still move faster so she was going to increase her speed a little more. Then it was going to be time to release her restraints.

Heading towards him again, ignoring Ino's scream to stop going in close, Sakura threw a punch for Gaara's face once more and her grin only widened to see his sand come up to defend and matching her speed. But this time there was slight strain to it. She found its speed.

Somewhat interested once more as her speed kept rising each assault, Gaara almost frowned as something was not right here. It seemed like she was holding back and using her body to scout him out. Who would be so foolish to do such a thing? He was Sabaku no Gaara, the monster of the sand and slayer of his village's best ninja all without being hit.

Did this girl have some kind of death wish?

His eyes nearly widened as his eyes caught her lips. She was smirking. She did want to die! Then so be it. His mother would…

Gaara's eyes did widen this time as with a slight shift of Sakura's feet… She was gone. And in the very next moment she stood at his side… Within his ring of sand.

Turning his gaze to meet her, shock evident on his face, for the first time in his life he felt the sting of a strike smashing against his cheek from a back hand. And then more than a sting was to follow.

His head turned from the blow before all of his sand turned into debris as he was flung across the arena floor and skidded across it from just one blow. Barely able to right himself, Gaara looked at Sakura surprise to see he was nearly at the statue and she was still at the center of the floor.

Just one blow had knocked him over twenty meters! What was this?

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Kiba screamed out as this time he was caught off guard as were most of the rookies. "How in the hell did she suddenly just move like that and then knock him that far away? She was the weakest among all of us in the academy!"

"Hmp… Maybe you should have listened to our sensei and not worry." Kerlya responded to her cousin with a slight smirk as she looked at Sakura as she schooled her face into her battle mask. "Sakura is our team's hand-to-hand specialist and medic. She is one of Konoha's five elite gennin out of a few hundred. That is how powerful she has become."

"And it is all because of her unique muscle structure that allows her to exert an extraordinary amount force with minimal effort." Gai added on as he looked at his daughter with pride to be in her life now and to witness what she would become. "I simply wish I was there for her when she was younger and had known sooner that she wanted to become a ninja as if I knew… Sakura would already be a jounin as she is the first true genius since Naruto and Itachi and then the sannin."

"Wait… What? How can that be? I thought I had the most potential?" Sasuke spoke in wonder as he wouldn't doubt Sakura to be a true genius but he was sure he would fall into that category as well since he still was better and learned things quickly.

Shaking his head, Naruto kept his eyes on the field before explaining. "You misunderstand Sasuke… A true genius is something completely different from a prodigy like you. A prodigy has all the skills set in place along with a mind suited for battle and they only have to work to bring them forth but have something that holds them back. A true genius has all that but no do they just work…"

"They work harder than anyone else to bring forth their full talent but they also have one crucial thing." Gai continued for Naruto as he smiled a little at Lee as he too was almost a true genius in his mind.

"They have a certain factor about… A burning desire that cannot be extinguished even in the darkest of times and no matter what they will not quit and will continue to grow and get better and will never tailor off." Naruto finished with a slight hint of pride as his eyes seemingly glowed for a moment with fire. "That is why Sakura is a true genius."

Back on the field of battle, Sakura looked at Gaara and kept any emotion from surfacing as she noted sand crumbling from his face, the epicenter focused around her blow. There was a second layer of sand to get through. That was going to prove a little more difficult. But she knew one thing.

He felt that blow. The sand acted like a piece of cloth and did nothing to protect him.

Growling as he had never experienced such a blow before, Gaara's and fell from his face as he sneered at the pink haired gennin. She would pay for inflicting such pain upon him. NO ONE HIT HIM!

"SABAKU KYU!"

The sand that had turned into debris by now had reformed and was at Sakura's feet. So quickly it moved that it had formed a cocoon and his hand was already clenched to finish the job.

"SABAKU SOSO!"

But nothing came from the coffin of sand. No blood. No scream. There was absolutely nothing in the sand as it dispersed. How could that be?

Sakura was suddenly upon Gaara and connected with a vicious upper cut before his sand shell could reform around his face. But before he could be lifted to high, she jumped up and grabbed his ankles as he was knocked into the air before slamming him down into the ground before her as she lifted her foot into the air and was ready to bring it down onto him.

Gaara's sand reacted but it was not enough to stop the blow from coming. It only weakened and slowed it just enough for Gaara to roll from the blow as her foot hit the concrete below. A crater from the impact, sanding filling it quickly, before she disappeared as it tried to catch her.

Once more pain engulfed Gaara as he accurately predicted where Sakura was going to hit him as he caught glimpses of her in stride, but his sand did nothing but crumple around her fist as it connected with his chest. Losing all the air in his lungs, he tumbled back once or twice before recovering and kneeling on one knee.

This one… Was something else. This girl truly did have a set of abilities that countered his own. Speed was one thing he knew that his sand could not always handle but since he was always in a desert he really never had a problem with speedy people before thanks to the amount of sand around him.

Another was her sheer power. His sand did weaken the strike from what it naturally would be but it still stung more than anything else he had ever felt. And he did not like that in the least. He was not accustomed to pain. But there was one last thing…

She was still analyzing his abilities and finding ways to counter them. He had to end this fight quickly but he would need more sand for this. And that now… Now it was covered.

Standing onto his feet, Gaara's eyes narrowed at Sakura as the sand gathered around him before an evil grin formed on his lips. "I will have your blood… _Mother wants your blood!_"

Before anything could be done, Gaara had gone through a progression of hand seals and his psychotic grin widened as the insanity of his voice shone through. "_Ryusa Bakuryu!_"

To all there the sudden rise of sand from the ground concrete was shocking but it was nothing as in less than a moment a tsunami of sand toward over the balconies themselves forcing the jounin once more to activate the seal to shield the gennin from the attack and force Yugito to get the hell out of the way.

But that left nowhere for Sakura to go as the sand toward above her. Her only hope would be to get to the top of the tiger seal statue and then jump over it and praying that Gaara could not do that again.

So without a choice, Sakura sprinted to the statue but there was no time to even arrive. The speed of the sand this time was far greater than normal as it seemed something else was now in control of the sand. She wasn't going to be able to make this so now she only had one option. She had to dig her way out as the sand collapse over and overwhelmed her with its current.

As all seemed to calm, Gaara looked over his sand as it covered the entire arena floor. Nothing was stirring but he wasn't going to just believe he defeated her so easily. So moving to the edge of his sand to not be caught in his technique, he placed his hands on the sand before growling. "Sabaku Taiso!"

Just at that very moment as the sand began to pulse with a crushing wave, Sakura burst through the sand. She had looked better and her suit had a few rips in it now, thankfully none in any private spots, but she was free. But when the wave passed over her, she had reached down to pull out her left leg.

Sakura screamed out in agony as her leg was suddenly crushed by the sudden weight along with her right hand before mustering enough strength to pull it free to spare losing her entire limb.

"NO!" Gai was ready to jump out and protect his daughter from any more attacks when Naruto grabbed his wrist. Almost seething at him for stopping him, he was about to break his grip when Lee spoke.

"She's lost her forehead protector… And what is that diamond on her head?" He asked curiously as there had to be some point to it for it to be hidden like it was.

That mark stopped every jounin could outside of Naruto and the Hokage himself, both with smirks. Gai, however, was decked Naruto soon as he saw it. "Why did you not inform me that he did such a thing? Do you have to worry me to death like this?"

"That was not my attention Gai… It was meant to be a last resort and we thought it wouldn't need to be used. But now that it needs to be… I'm glad that Mikoto helped us recreate the seal… With a few altercations of course." Naruto kept a smirk from his face as he knew Gai would only hurt him more.

The next voice to speak was Tenten as she knew exactly what it was but was stunned. "That can't be the same… Why would she have such a thing? No one has the medical expertise as Lady Tsunade! And even if she somehow did there is no way she's gathered that much chakra to attempt such a technique!"

"And she doesn't… But the head medic of our village current, Uchiha Mikoto knowledge very well could rival the slug sannin's. But with my mastery of seals… I surpass Jiraiya so in this case the seal while the same isn't… It's designed for her specifically." Naruto said as he looked on at his injured student.

"Now watch and see the difference."

Forming a hand seal, something that caused her great pain to do, Sakura stood on one knee. But her steadfast and determined gaze nearly made Gaara take a step back. "I won't let you beat me like this… I won't be the one of my squad to lose today… I will defeat you!"

"SOZO SAISEI!"

A bright blue light glowed from the seal as soon as her declaration finished and a massive swarm of charka engulfed her. Then seals began to rapidly flow from the diamond mark and down her body, the blue light trailing behind. No one was more surprised than Gaara at what happened next.

Closing her eyes to focus on her injuries first, the snaps of bones being reset back into place were heard as she focused and turn the immense chakra into medical chakra in her injured limbs. Her muscles and flesh quickly began to return to their normal state as all rips and tears were fixed. All that were left of her injuries were the blood stains on her full body suit.

But once it was done healing her wounds it did not disperse. The chakra stayed around her and violently flared around her as she stood back on her now mended leg and her emerald eyes daringly gazed into Gaara's. "Now let's see if you can keep up with me now."

"I see now… That is not her chakra. It's yours." Gai stated as he looked at Naruto before frowning at the implications. "But since it hasn't dispersed I guess this is something that you have added on. She keeps the chakra and isn't only able to use it for medical purposes but to augment her strength. …Similar to the first two gates being released. And if I'm right…"

"Yes… The stress level is much higher as it is not her natural chakra but mine. While it will get the job done it will leave her completely exhausted after and unable to defend herself even from a kitten." Naruto finished for Gai as he was on the right track and he had to confirm it.

"So this is it then. Whether Gaara or Sakura wins this bout all comes down to this." Sasuke finished as he watched the fight with his Sharingan active, impressed by what he was seeing and somewhat glad he couldn't copy it. "Sakura! Finish this!"

Smiling as she began to hear cheers after Sasuke's declaration to win on the Konoha sideline, Sakura's face returned to her battle mask as she looked Gaara straight into the eyes. "Let's end this!"

For once, Gaara did not back down and charged straight at Sakura knowing his defense did little now and wouldn't let them get in his way. Besides… Now he had all the sand he could want to crush her. So throwing out a punch, his eyes widened as she caught it without effort and held him in place.

Crushing all the force she could into one blow, the entire room shock and even the sand gave away to the blow and created a massive spree of debris. No one could see anything and only one person truly knew what happened thanks to his sensory. It did not end as Sakura had hoped it would. Using all his chakra at once did not finish the job.

Then a dark laughter filled the entire room as the sand began to condense and return to its owner, now standing in the crater where the arena floor use to be. Gaara stood at the very center of the crater, blood freely falling from his right temple and exposed torso were his seal glowed brightly in anticipation.

The team from the sand shivered as this was something they did not want to happen but there was no way to stop it. No one had any suppressant seals with them… And even if they did, they would never reach Gaara in this state.

But sand slowly began to cover it as it had wrapped around his waist and a giant tail had formed behind him, swinging wildly in excitement. "You are the first to ever push me to this! Your blood will coat my sand and cover my being!"

"I will enjoy ripping every second of ripping you apart!"

An arm of sand rapidly formed on his arm as he leapt towards Sakura, a demonic claw growing from the sand and ready to tear into her exhausted state. Having wasted all that chakra at once had a horrid recoil she was not expecting and the strain Naruto said it would have hit her all at once and left her semi-conscious.

"SAKURA MOVE!" Sasuke yelled as he jumped from the railing along with most of the Konoha gennin to stop this attack.

But they weren't quick enough and Gaara was already upon Sakura and his claw came to her face. It however stopped as a flicker of golden light appeared before it and a single hand gripped the wrist, stopping the attack with ease.

Gazing into Gaara's emerald eyes and having seen the seal glow before sand covered it, Naruto was ready to break the sand and seal the beast away when Raiu appeared with a bust of concentrated wind smashed into the Suna vessel's stomach and shattered the sand armor.

"SEAL IT!"

Naruto, not sure why Raiu was helping him but accepting the help, let go of Gaara's wrist. Yugito quickly arrived and held it in place allowing Naruto to finish the job. And with frightening speed his hand slammed into the seal and a six star seal formed over the two point and eight prong seal holding Ichibi.

On their own it wasn't enough but with a six star seal, the strongest seal of all three it drew the demon's power back in.

Collapsing onto the ground, Gaara passed out. But nothing happened as the demon had been sealed off to the point it could not take control in Gaara's sleep.

Sighing, Naruto simply nodded his head at Raiu for the help before turning to the sand sibs and sensei. "You should have kept suppressant seals on you… But there is no worry now. I've strengthened the seal so that he can control the beast to his own tune now."

Turning his attention to Sakura, he kept a smile from emerging as Shikamaru was checking over her with the rest of her comrades looking over her worriedly. A medic quickly arrived as the match had been called and after a quick scan he shook his head and smiled. "Don't worry… She over exerted her muscles and chakra system. She'll be fine in a few days."

"Ahem." Yugito broke everyone's worry over Sakura as Shino and Chouji helped lift her onto her feet. "We have a few more things to do. Once we're done you can worry over her and ask questions. Now can everyone that won come forward so I can explain what's going to happen."

No one ignored her order as all the victors, Satoshi included as he emerged from the medic's room and Gaara excluded as he was unconscious and have his siblings very carefully pick him up, they stood before her. "Alright… Now that all of you made it to the finals I have to inform you they will take place in one month."

"This is not for your comfort I shall say. This is so that our clients and the lords of lands can get here in time to witness the fights and place bets and whatever else it is they do. However this gives you an advantage. It gives you a month to rest from today and train for your next opponent which will be drawn now." Yugito stated as Anko appeared with a box and a tournament chart behind her.

"Whatever number you draw is where you will be placed. Any attempts to use a technique to alter your choice will be spotted by our local sensor and you will immediately be disqualified. So take your number please." Yugito finished with a smirk as she felt one or two might try to cheat to get a certain opponent in the first round.

Once all the lots were drawn and the numbers known, Yugito smirked as she announced them. "Inuzuka Kerlya is in the first fight against Aschen of the Rock. The second fight will be Uchiha Sasuke versus Sabaku no Gaara. Then there will be the free slot draw of Rock Lee and you will fight at this point the winner of Kerlya/Aschen."

Taking a breath to keep going, Yugito actually liked how some of these matches were falling. "The following fight would pit Satoshi of the Ash against Tenten of the leaf. The fight following would be a match of Ten Raiu fighting against Nara Shikamaru. Finally the final fight of the first round will pit the winner of Satoshi/Tenten against Hyuuga Neji."

"I expect all of you to train hard for this as even if you lose your first match if you show what is truly necessary to be promoted you can become chunin. And don't expect a win to be enough to earn your exam as the only way winning will earn you that vest is if you win every match and win the tournament."

"So don't just train for just one opponent. Each and everyone one of your goals should be to win this tournament and seal your promotion. So be on your way… I expect a good showing at our stadium in one month." Yugito finished with nearly evil smile as she kind of liked watching the kids push themselves to their limits like this.

No wonder why Anko tortured them while they were young!

Naruto only shook his head. Anko had finally done it. Yugito was corrupted beyond saving… And for some reason he liked that.

* * *

**Beta'd By**: Deathbringofvengance

**A/N**: That is the end of this chapter… And this last a lot longer than I expected. I would have added the month after this but I'm already over ten-thousand so I bet I can stretch the month to at least five thousand.

Now for explanations. First off I didn't want to do ten full battles. Obviously that would have taken forever and wouldn't be worth doing. I only focused on what was needed and summarized the others. Also I didn't do Neji's vow of vengeance against Satoshi as Raiu kind of did it for him. And don't forget, as I'm sure some of you have, Hizashi is alive so Neji has a good relationship with Hinata, though still has a little of that fate arrogance.

Yugito as the proctor… Fun. I wanted a new proctor and why not make her the proctor. It was going to be either her or Kakashi and it just happened to be more appropriate. War against the sound… Nothing to be said without anything given away. Raiu's attitude… I didn't want him to come of like Hiboruto in Power of Three and to be actually a guy you can somewhat like. Reasons for this are classified however.

Sakura being powerful enough to force Gaara into Shukaku state, that answer is a little harder but not so hard at the same time. The next chapter will fill it the rest of Sakura's muscle structure and how it is she has become so much stronger. But I need to state Sakura is NARUTO's apprentice as Lee is Gai's. He focuses on her training more than the others as they have acceptable tutors, Sasuke in Itachi and Kerlya… Secret!

For Creation Rebirth I hope that was somewhat explained by Naruto. Together with Mikoto they both went through how to recreate the seal for Sakura seeing what she can become. It is overall the same but with Naruto's tweak of being able to use it without healing after its original purpose is finished. And as I said it is his chakra that is sealed into her (two gates equal to her chakra, not his).

And finally no, she hasn't learned Tsunade's punching technique. That is her enhanced muscle structure. And I guess finally again, it is not a blood line. It cannot be passed down and I'm just saying this now as I'll probably say it next chapter anyways it is a rare condition I'm creating for the Naruto world that anyone could be born with.

So with all that done now if you have any more questions or have a comment drop a review and I'll get back to you. And again I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Peace Out.


	18. Pulled out of the Darkness

"Wow forehead… I never thought I would say this but you were great!" Ino praised her friend at the dinner table with almost all the gennin and their teachers, who were paying as they believed the gennin deserved it after today.

Even their parents were there but they were at the adult's table not too far away, most of them drinking. So far, Kakashi was winning their little game despite Naruto not playing and Yugito's claim she couldn't get drunk. So far she was the most hammered out of all of them outside maybe Anko and the most unsuspecting… Itachi.

The only gennin not there was not there was Hinata and even then Neji and Kurenai had come in late after seeing if she was alright and informing Hiashi about his daughter's condition. Needless to say the conversation had not been pleasant and Neji was out for blood. So he wasn't in the greatest mood but he was tolerable.

Sakura blushed from the complement, still very tired from her losing bout against Gaara and was told to rest but… This was relaxation for her. She hadn't visited with the others in a long time. And she meant truly visit with them and not train and see them in passing.

"Hell yes… That was awesome! I never thought you would be so damn strong after our days in the academy! I always thought it was a competition between Sasuke, Shino and me." Kiba loudly commented as he could not believe that Sakura had become as strong as she was and nearly put down someone that he knew he couldn't even compare against.

Sasuke could only smirk as for once he wasn't the one being badgered by the others. However Sakura truly did deserve her time in the lime light as she had crushed Gaara until the very end of the battle. But… There was one thing on his mind. "Sakura… What is it that both Naruto and Gai were talking about your muscle structure that… Well lets you move as fast as you do and hit like a well-muscled ox?"

Looking at her father, Naruto and Mikoto as they heard the question and nodded their consent, Sakura took a deep breath as this was going take some explaining. "To begin my muscle structure is more compact then normal and I have larger lungs then must people do, about half a size larger. This allows me to take more oxygen and pours more into my system fueling my muscles further. And another bonus is that despite how hard my muscles work the lactic acid my body builds is so much smaller then that of most people."

"Now what is strange is that all the ligaments are coiled and compounded tightly to allow maximum effort to deliver with each constriction of the muscle. There is also a strange fact that my own muscles were always over developed and lean for my age. Also it is noted that even if my muscles will not dilute in strength over time meaning my strength will never be lower then it is now outside of any acids and poisons." Sakura continued with her explanation before noting a few looked confused.

The first was to note his confusion was actually Shino as he knew quite a bit about the human body. "So if what you saying is true… Would that mean that your muscle mass will not weaken despite say lounging around the house for weeks on in? There is also the matter that all of this is documented… Why is that? This doesn't seem to be something that many deal with."

"You're right… Not many deal with this. There is only one other person in the world with my 'condition'. Fortunately they were born here in Konoha so we know about it." Sakura answered Shino's first question before nodding again at the second. "And yes my muscles would stay at peek condition despite doing absolutely nothing. They will be primed and ready to explode at any maximum output at a moment's notice."

"One other person." Tenten frowned as she heard this, liking how this was coming out less and less. "Do you, by any chance, know who the other is that has this muscle structure?"

Sakura simply nodded with a slight grimace as she knew the girl had some weird quirk about her that made her adore the living legends of Konoha, none more so then the one her structure was similar with. "Yes… It is Senju Tsunade of the Sannin."

Everyone was quite as they heard that. The fact that Sakura had something in common with one of the sannin, a similar muscle build at that, simply stunned all of them until keep broke them out with one word. "_Daaammmnn._"

Chuckling at her cousin now that she snapped out of her shock, Kerlya shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Well let's stop this… We're supposed to be having a party here! Now who's up for spin the bottle?"

"NARUTO TAKE ME TO OUR ROOM!" Yugito slurred from the adult's table as she got up and rubbed her face against his, completely wasted despite being able to walk a straight line. "I'm happy…"

"I'm not." Naruto twitched at his fellow blonde vessel and had half a mind to leave her alone to go home but he couldn't. She might end up being picked up by some guy to… Oh he would kill that man nice and slow. He would die. Rip out his throat he would.

Kyuubi only twitched at the sudden shift in her son's mind and took a step back in slight fear. What the hell was wrong with him? She was only playing with him when she said he was insane. There had been no truth in that statement… Until now.

She was just glad that it seemed that he was finally accepting Yugito as his girlfriend, for now. He was just so infuriating like that.

Shaking his head, wondering where that insane jealously had come from, Naruto knew he was going to have to talk to Yoshino about this. This was getting strange. It was like he had split personality or something.

"Alright guys… I'm heading out. Sakura, I'll be training you over this next month as even if you didn't make the finals you still need to train." Naruto commented as he made his way to the gennin's table. "Sasuke, your trainer for the month is the silver haired one that isn't even the slightest bit intoxicated despite downing twenty bottles of sake and counting."

Sasuke's jaw dropped as indeed counted twenty-three bottles of the rice wine and just downed another like it was nothing. Was he even human?

"Kerlya… This drunken bimbo…" Ignoring Yugito slurred swear at him, Naruto continued talking to his gennin. "Is yours. So make sure she stays away from this stuff as I don't want her touching another drop. Now let's get home before you become some guy's drunken prize…"

"I already am!" Yugito happily responded as she continued rubbing against Naruto, having already forgotten about his insult towards her.

Naruto only twitched. Oh he was going to kill someone before this night was over. This was ridiculous.

* * *

Everything had been so normal for her all day. She trained with her father and Lee in their normal early morning workout before heading out to find Naruto only for him to tell her to take the day off. She could accept that. She was still a little tired from the fight with Gaara.

So she went to find Sasuke or Kerlya before they headed out to train but she missed them by only a few minutes. She had expected that to so she didn't let it bother her and decided since she was out today that she should visit with Ino since the last time they had talked, not counting the night before, was well over a month.

To her surprise she found Ino training and decided to help out with what she could. Now that it was about lunch they were heading into town to get something to eat when everything suddenly turned for Sakura.

Everyone… Everyone was smiling at her.

This was new for the pink haired gennin. No one smiled at her. They either ignored her existence or gave her spiteful looks for being the daughter of Haruno Momo. They never really paid attention to her company when they did this so why now all of a sudden did they turn a one-eighty?

She hardly thought it was Ino that was the reason as while she was from an important clan that shouldn't have mattered as so was Sasuke and Kerlya. So what was the difference? She did remember that Ino and Kiba said something about spreading the word about her fight with Gaara but…

There was no way that those two could have done this so quickly. She was with Ino over half the morning and Kiba was training with his sister in how to use those claws Kerlya had used. So it all came back down to one thing.

What the hell was going on?

Ino had noticed something was distracting Sakura. Noting that she was looking around at everyone oddly, Ino saw that most of them were smiling and simply nodding at her… No, not her. They were nodding at Sakura. That was new. She knew Sakura wasn't very well liked.

"Okay… Did we pass through some sort of vortex into an alternate universe?" Sakura asked her blonde haired friend hoping she wasn't the only one disturbed by this change of heart everyone seemed to be showing… Or at least a good few.

Sitting down at a table in the barbeque shop Ino's team visited frequently, Ino shrugged as she too was a little leery of what was going on. "I don't think so but this is a nice change of pace. Maybe Kiba started spreading the word for me?"

"No… He was training with his sister this morning when I went by to see if Kerlya had left yet." Sakura responded as she pried her head away from those around and sighed. "I'm not use to this… What did I do that made them like me all of a sudden?"

"Are you complaining?" Ino raised her eyebrow with a puzzled glance as she thought her friend would be happy that no one was looking down at her any more.

"Yes." Sakura admitted as this was really bothering her. "I have to know… Was it something I did or is this because of something else? I need to know."

Ino couldn't fault Sakura for that. She would probably want to know too if she was in Sakura's position as no one changed their opinion so easily. Rubbing her temple, knowing today was going to be a long one, she sighed as she waited for the waiter so she could order.

After the waiter came by and took their orders, Sakura felt a small tug on her elbow. As it felt like it came from below, she was a little curious and looked down to see a small bunch of young girls that looked no older then six or seven that suddenly materialized out of nowhere. "What the…"

"Where did all of you come from?" Ino nearly jumped out of her seat as she had not seen them and was becoming paranoid just like her friend.

Ignoring Ino's question, the little girl in front with a deep blue hair held out a small pad and a picture. "Can you autograph this for me?"

"Huh?" Was the only thing Sakura could come out with. "Wait a minute here. I think you have me mixed up with someone else."

"No I don't! You're the one that fought that evil sand man!" The little girl announced as if everyone knew about Sakura's fight with Gaara.

Both Ino and Sakura were thrown for a loop before Sakura's eyes widened at the implications before the other little girls began to speak. What they said froze Sakura to the core and stunned Ino into silence.

"Yeah! You were so cool and that regeneration thing was awesome!"

"How did you get so strong?"

"I wish I can group up to be like you!"

Looking at the small group of children, Ino saw Sakura seemed ready to shatter into thousands shards of ice and decided to act. "Um… Where did you say you see this fight?"

"On the TV. It has been being aired all day." The young girl that was the leader of the group replied.

Without a pause both Ino and Sakura dashed down the street to the closest electronic store. Since there was few and they happened on a block with one they quickly found it with a big screen in the front window. And it happened to be playing Sakura's fight against Gaara.

Freezing as something was wrong as these fights, unless spoke about, were never suppose to make their way to the public. Neither girl knew what to do but could not look away.

They were finally broken from their thoughts as a young man stopped and noticed Sakura. "Hey aren't you… Yeah you are. …Listen, do you want to get something to eat. I'll pay for you if you want."

Sakura wasn't sure what was going on but everything was happening to quickly for her to register what he had said. And soon she was swarmed by many people, congratulating her on her success and standing up against the Suna shinobi. It was then the small group of children surrounded her again and she automatically signed her picture, a picture of her.

Looking over at everyone, the slightest of smiles graced her lips as she was being bombarded by questions like how it felt like fighting Gaara. Was this what it was to feel wanted?

Up on the roof just above her, a flicker of light dispersed as his job was done.

* * *

"What is the point of training way out here?" Sasuke complained as he didn't mind using a hardly used training ground but he did not like the idea he wouldn't see his family or friends for the next month. "I don't know about you but I like sleeping in my bed at night."

"As do I and I like reading my series but that's not going to be happening any time soon." Kakashi bitterly responded as Naruto had forbidden him the book this month to take Sasuke's training seriously. "So we're both uncomfortable in this but it must be done if you want to stand a chance against Gaara in the first round. Even then I'm unsure if you will have enough in your tank to win this tournament."

"There are too many good competitors, that I know. And even if I make the finals Raiu will be waiting for me mostly likely well rested." Sasuke groaned as to win this tourney he would have to beat the two he knew were demon vessels like Naruto and Yugito. "I hate my luck."

Kakashi only nodded as his luck was pretty bad as he did have to fight Gaara, a second fight and then Raiu to win as he knew that boy was going to win his two matches. "Yes but to start this training we're going to have you attack Gaara's first weakness… His stand can't keep up tremendous speed. Secondly if he somehow is able to keep up with you… You're going to pierce his defense with your best attribute."

"Genjutsu?" Sasuke blinked as he had to admit despite being great in both taijutsu and ninjutsu an Uchiha almost always excelled in illusions.

Nearly face faulting and repressing the bead of sweat as Sasuke had a point there, Kakashi shook his head and cursed. "No… While most Uchiha do excel in that area you don't from what Naruto's notes say. Your strongest suit is ninjutsu but in particular… Lighting nature techniques."

"But I only know one and I still haven't mastered it as it is very difficult to control." Sasuke twitched as even after almost two months he still had not mastered the god damned jutsu!

"Well in all fairness he gave you one of the toughest to control. Even I haven't mastered(it was Kakashi who created the Jutsu right?) that technique to the extent Naruto has." Kakashi admitted which in turn had Sasuke face plant and viciously curse at his slave driving sensei.

As Sasuke picked himself off the ground, the scarecrow went through a few hand seals before gripping his wrist as electricity exploded around his palm. Seeing he had the Uchiha's attention, he grinned before he thrusted his palm through the rock they were near and pushed his hand nearly entirely through the rock as he pierced it with the attack.

Pulling his hand free, Kakashi eye smiled at the slacked jawed Uchiha. "That was known as the Chidori, a weaker version of my Raikiri but still both are original techniques that I made. And Chidori is only going to be one of many lighting jutsu you'll be learning this month… Once we finish our speed and endurance training!"

Oh Sasuke did not like whatever grin that was behind that man's mask. It reminded him too much of Naruto when he kicked the training up a notch. Sweat began to cover his body and he knew he wasn't going to like this.

Kakashi just smiled beneath his mask. He forgot how fun it was to torture kids! He had to remind himself to thank Naruto for this.

He _loved _making kids squirm.

* * *

"I do not want to be back in this forest!" Kerlya screamed as she was told to meet Yugito in the one place she did not want to go back to.

Training Ground forty-four, the Forest of Death.

For all she cared it was training ground six-six-six and the devil's playground. She did not want to be here again. While she did run into Orochimaru here that wasn't the reason she didn't want to be here. It was because all the damn creepy as hell animals that lived here… Like ten foot centipedes with razor sharp legs and fangs and whatnot!

Oh then there was the foot long spiders that one bite could probably kill her. Then there happened to be oversized tigers that loved the flesh of human's apparently. This not mentioning the eye gouging birds that seemed to love the juices that were held in that said vital organ. But no… None of these things were the worst thing she had to deal with today.

It was _her_. This was all part of her training and she was going to have to LIVE here for the next MONTH! All the while dodge her random attacks after only maybe thirty minutes of training her in techniques and hunting for food on her own.

This was not training. This was going to be a never ending horror/snuff film that was called training.

Freezing as she felt the ice cold feeling of a metallic blade pressed against the spine of her neck, she heard Yugito's stern voice. "You drop your guard. You're too busy pitying yourself to realize what is around him. If I hadn't stopped you here you would have walked right into the belly of the beast."

Throwing the said kunai down into the ground five feet in front of her, some horrible nightmarish creature with a mouth large enough to easily swallow a human suddenly burst from the ground and swallowed said kunai and dug back into its hiding spot.

"I'm surprised it's still hungry… I heard it got a few gennin during the exams." Yugito silently spoke as she watched the thing with slight awe. Despite knowing about it she still somewhat feared it.

That was what happens when she did get eaten by one a few years back. She was just lucky Naruto was there and ripped it apart. That thing's innards were stronger than its skin.

Shaking her head of that and seeing fear building in Kerlya's face, Yugito sighed as this was going to take some time but she needed this. She was the softest of the group and this was the quickest way to harden her to the facts of their life. She simply hoped she kept her innocence after they were through.

"Alright… Let's go. Our session will begin once we get a little away from here." Yugito spoke as she tugged on Kerlya's jacket and moved from the area to keep her from this spot of the forest.

Kerlya only nodded as now she was aware this little area was filled with these things. There were at least ten more not ten meters away from it!

She did not want to wander to this area again and become the things lunch.

* * *

"Sensei…" Sakura spoke as she noted Naruto meditating in the clearing not too far from their normal training spot.

Deciding that he was deeply entranced, though she had a feeling that he knew she was there, she sat before him and took a deep breath as she began to focus and bring herself into a meditative state as well.

It was a little difficult as many things had happened in the last few days. She had been asked out on many dates, had what seemed to be a fan boy club made for her and many of the younger kids, especially young girls in the academy, started looking up to her and asking her how to become strong.

But the most startling thing was that no one looked at her like a pariah any longer. They gave her kind smiles as if they suddenly realized that they may have been wrong and saw who she truly was. She was just a kunoichi… A kunoichi that wanted to become a medical ninja.

Everything was happening too fast for her. It wasn't but two months ago mostly everyone ignored her thanks to her mother and belittled her because of it. No children noticed her as she was just some gennin that no one knew about. But that changed when videos leaked out of the battles in the preliminaries.

No one had an answer but she knew who was the cause of it. It was the blonde before her… Her very own sensei and probably the Third Hokage at that as Naruto on his own had a lot of power as a head ninja but everything still came down to the elderly Kage.

And that was what troubled her. Why… Why was he going through all of this just for her? It was simply too much and unlike Sasuke and Kerlya… She didn't advance. She would not become a chunin this go through.

"Sakura…" Naruto broke her out of her thoughts and her eyes snapped open and locked onto him. "I know what it is you want to know… And yes I am the one that leaked the video to the public with some connections… But you wish to know why, do you not?"

Only nodding as she could say nothing, Naruto's eyes finally opened and his blues gazed into her emeralds. "It because you remind me of what I use to be before I broke seven years ago. …I couldn't let another suffer such fate so… I used the power I possess and pulled all the strings I could."

"You deserve better than what you received and I made sure you got what you truly wanted… Recognition for who and what you are." Naruto finished without blinking and holding her gaze with little difficultly.

A cold chill shivered down her spine as she listened to her sensei's words. He considered her like him and did everything… Everything just so she could be happy.

Almost being taken down by her tackle, Naruto wasn't sure what to do as Sakura embraced him and started crying on his shoulder. He blinked a few times as this was a reaction he had not expected. He should have anticipated it but he hadn't and now he was left with the conundrum of how to handle this.

Doing the only thing that came to him; he calmly stroked his hand through her hair and managed to stand them while she kept her embrace. He guessed he did this through instinct as he had done the same thing to Yugito and Anko when he attempted to comfort them but he thought the relationship here was a little different.

But he guessed he was wrong. She was family to him just like Sasuke and Kerlya were. That was always the point of this and he knew it. It was not only for him to learn how to converse with others, especially those of his own age, but for him to have more that belonged to his close nit family.

There was always room for more.

Smiling at her son's thought, Kyuubi wiped the tears trailing down her face. He had come so far along since she watched him break time and time again. Finally… Finally he was turning into a person and not just a ninja.

* * *

Standing alone in his hotel room, Raiu's brown eyes stared into the night's sky as he gazed at the moon. Her eyes shone, reflecting the rays of light, and a light smile crossed his lips before he chuckled. "That's true…"

"So what do we do now? The Konoha ninja will obviously suspect something now. I know both the flash and the professor knew what it was I did." Raiu spoke to seemingly no one as he continued to gaze at the moon.

If one were to see this they would think the Rock gennin was crazy and had something unscrewed in his head. Obviously that was not the truth, however, as he was truly talking to another being. The only other being that was there at the moment.

"Say… How about I release you for a little while? It gets kind of tiring talking to you inside my head." Raiu smiled before it immediately was dashed as he looked behind him and slipped a kunai out of his pouch. "Who's there?"

Brown eyes locked onto two blue orbs before his eyes widened as he recognized who was standing before him. "A little late to be out when you're technically in enemy territory. Someone might think you are up to something and take care of you… Unlike me."

Staying on guard as this was the one person in Konoha he did not want to ever deal with, Raiu was nervous as the blonde stepped closer before standing next to him. Keeping his arm steady and making sure not to lash out in fear, he was surprised as Naruto simply sat down and motioned for him to do the same.

Unsure what to think of this as he was afraid of the man, for good reason, Raiu didn't move as he wasn't sure he could trust him. However a shake of his head and a slight chuckle, the flash spoke. "If I was going to do anything to you there would be nothing you could do about it. You may be able to bend space and time to but don't think that is enough to get away from me."

"Now are you going to sit so we can talk or are you going to stand there and remain hostile all day? Either way I can deal with it." Naruto added as the moon light reflected the glint in his eyes letting the boy know his place at the moment.

Frowning as this was a bad situation, Raiu slid his kunai back into his pouch before he cautiously sat down, a good couple of feet from Naruto. Of course a few feet meant nothing to the Konoha ninja but he liked to think that a few feet could be the difference of life and death. "What do you want to hear from me? I'm not going to say anything about…"

"I could care less about anything Iwa is up to at the moment. As long as they stay neutral towards us I don't care." Naruto broke Raiu's train of speech as the boy was jumping to conclusions before realizing what this was truly about. "…I'm here because we are very similar to one another. We both are jinchuuriki."

Grimacing at the word as he didn't like to think of himself as a sacrifice despite that was what he truly happened to be, Raiu still aired on the side of caution. "Don't think I'm going to talk about that to you either. I'm not giving up my secrets to…"

"I already know you possess Nanabi thanks to your little display against your team mate. The killing intent led my senses straight to the source and I found the beast. What bothers me is how you possess Nanabi? It had a different vessel not but four years ago." Naruto commented on what he truly wanted to discuss what he had sensed.

Raiu's eyes widened for a moment before his face turned more neutral as it was something that he did not want to remember. Shivering as screaming filled his mind; he bit his lip to keep the pain from surfacing and keeping his emotions under control. "I shouldn't tell you this but… You may be the only one to understand what they did to me… And to her."

"They snuck up on the Akatsuki from what I know right after they knocked her out and pounced on them. Many ninja were lost but they thought it was worth it to bring another vessel… One to counter the reappearance of the flash if it occurred and because you used it at chunin exams weeks before they were sent in a more feverish frenzy." Raiu stated as his gaze fell and looked down at the street below.

"I was always better then everyone in the academy so maybe that was why I was chosen. They took me out and began to shove everything about space and time down my throat all the while the prepped everything for the extraction and resealing. It was there that I learned what they were going to do and I felt sick at what was about to happen."

"Without any remorse they drove a kunai into the seal on her stomach and strapped me down as they extract the beast and sealed it into my belly. …I still remember her screams as she awoke during and tried to break free but in the end the demon was pulled out and her screams finally died out." Raiu solemnly finished with his fists clenched and his anger rising.

Keeping silent as he listened to Raiu off loaded his burden to him, Naruto closed his eyes. They were desperate indeed to go so far out to find something that could counter the reemergence of the flash. "I see… I cannot blame you for your rage towards not only them but to me. If I had not learned the flash they would have simply taken a new born, sealed the demon inside of that child and raised her into a weapon specifically meant to kill me."

Raiu's flashed dangerous at the mention of a child forced to go through what he had gone through. The sheer thought of it drew forth far more anger but this time he cooled down and glared down at the streets. "I do hate you… And I will kill you one day for being the flash. But for now I have my job to do…"

"To outclass Konoha on their own turf, huh?" Naruto raised his eyebrow at this for a moment before shrugging his shoulder. "You will more than likely do so… But do not let your anger drive you and keep that heart of yours intact. A good person like you is a rarity in the shinobi world."

Watching Naruto stand, keeping his eyes on him, Raiu turned his attention away and back onto the moon above. "Maybe if you had not learned the flash… We could have been friends. But since you do I am forever your enemy no matter what. You will die at my hands."

Looking at the Rock gennin for a moment longer, Naruto dispersed as if he had never been there in the first place.

Closing his eyes, as if listening to something, Raiu sighed as he turned away from the moon. "No… He did not need to know. …No one does. You are my guardian angel. You are my everything."

"Lady Fuu."

* * *

**A/N**: Well there is the chapter. This was mostly filler with some important information exchanged between Naruto and Raiu. Sorry if it was Sakura centric again but she will be playing a big part very soon so I'm fleshing her character out a little more then the others right now.

There was also going to be a Naru/Yugito scene but it really didn't turn out well and flow with the chapter so I deleted it as it wasn't up to snuff. Besides I'll get to their developing relationship in the following chapters. These chapters are, as said about, fleshing out team seven's characters along with Raiu's.

Also some may notice I'm adding some of the insanity from the earlier chapters back in but only for comic relief here and there. I always like there to be a little bit here and there so hopefully you like.

I would like to say something about Fuu being stuck inside of Raiu but that will be something that will become clearer later on. This is also because I'm not one hundred percent sure on how I'm going to do this. So until I do you won't know, simple as that.

Well anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if I keep producing them like this we should be in the twenties maybe even the thirties soon. So if you have anything to say (questions, comments or anything like that), you know what to do.

Peace Out my loyal readers.


	19. Chunin Exam Finals

It was loud, that she knew well. She had to hold her ears to keep from hissing in pain and she didn't have the same kind of senses as her partner Kerlya had and this was painful. And she even doubted that it was going to stay this quiet when the fights started. She would only hope they quieted down during the fights.

Otherwise Sakura would have to surgically remove some voice boxes of people nearby her.

At least she wasn't feeling the worst of it. She was quite sure Kiba was at, he was he nearly fell over after someone yelled directly behind him. She had to restrain him from clawing that person's face off.

Down on the arena floor Kerlya was glad that she wasn't a part of the crowd. Just from where she stood her ears were echoing in pain. She couldn't imagine being up in the crowd otherwise she would have passed out due to her ear buds exploding. "Damn where is Yugito… Let's just get this over with."

Sasuke could only nod in agreement as he wanted to start despite his match was after Kerlya's. Surprisingly the copy cat, who had a reputation of being extremely late to everything, had brought him here early for some reason. "I wonder what the pool is at now…"

"Pool?" Lee said in confusion as the first thing he thought of was naturally a swimming pool and he had to wonder why Sasuke wanted to go swimming at a time like this.

Catching her teammate's confusion, and knowing he was very dense at times, Tenten rubbed her temple before explaining to him. "He meant the betting pool, Lee. A lot of people are gambling on the outcome of the first round matches and even who will win the tournament overall. Hell some made bracket bets."

"Bracket bets?" Neji raised his eyebrow as he didn't understand at first before almost slapping his forehead. "Oh… Making predictions to see who moves on to each fight and eventually choosing the winner of it all."

"Why are any of you interested in this? We're here to fight and become chunin!" Lee yelled at his friends as he thought it was more imperative to focus on their fights instead of people betting.

While they all had to admit he had a point, even the Rock ninja that were staying quiet, every single one of them had made bets of their own and filled out a bracket. They could make some wicked money by being correct about who was going to win.

"Talkative, aren't you guys?" Kakashi stated in a poof of smoke as he stood in front of him. "Alright, I'm your examiner and referee for today. I believe all of you know most of the rules so there is no point going over most of them. However there are a few changes from the prelims I should tell you about."

"The field will not be restored back to its normal state after each fight so you will have to adapt to the changes, especially if they are wide spread." Kakashi commented as he was sure that someone was going to alter the arena during the finals, most likely Gaara.

"There is only one other rule change and it is quite simple concept to grasp. You cannot leave the stadium at any time or enter the stands during a fight. The only exception to this is if you are taken out of the stadium. If that is the case the opponent must halt their attack until they return into the boundaries or they are disqualified for endangering other lives." Kakashi stated with his one eye gazing upon the ten gennin sternly, making sure they understood.

Seeing that there was no arguments, even from Gaara who seemed to be the most likely to break the exemption of the second rule, Kakashi turned his attention to the booth as the Kages began to arrive. "Alright then… The Hokage will make his announcement when he arrives."

In the booth where the Kages sat to watch their gennin compete, a seat designed for each different Kage despite most never having to attend one at the same time, both the Third Tsuchikage and the Fourth Kazekage were patiently waiting for the Hokage with their guards.

Obviously both knew something was up but the young, compared to the old Tsuchikage, Kazekage spoke with mild irritation. "There better had been something major to keep him waiting like this."

"I wouldn't doubt it, boy." The Tsuchikage glared as his country was also not on good terms with the Sand. "If you had paid any attention you would notice that the land of fire and rice right now are extremely tense… War may break out between the Sound and Leaf very soon."

The Kazekage nodded as he flicked his hand through his hair as he did notice that. "Good. Gaara needs combat experience and I'll make sure to send him along with them when it finally erupts."

Only being able to nod, the Tsuchikage understood the necessity of having a jinchuuriki needing battle experience on a large scale. It was to make them that much more effective. "Ah… Lord Hokage. You are a little late."

"Sorry for the delay, Lord Tsuchikage." Hizuren commented as he lightly bowed as did his two guards. "However I was going over some critical details with my head ninjas here if the Sound attempts to push its boundaries again."

Neither Kage missed the acknowledgement of his head ninjas. Both were the most dangerous ninja in Konoha, possibly more deadly than the Hokage. The Phantom Assassin Uchiha Itachi and the Prince of Konoha Namikaze-Mitarashi Naruto. Even if anyone had dreamed to think about assassinating the Hokage today they would be dealt with handily by the two.

"You wouldn't mind if I start this so we can sit back and enjoy the rest of the day from our grievances?" Sarutobi softly spoke but both Kage's simply nodded in agreement.

Both were glad that they didn't have to deal with the mind numbing nuisance known as their only unbeaten and nameless advisory for the next couple of days. How they loved the Chunin Exams.

"Good morning everyone!" The Hokage began as he stood at the front of the booth, clearly seen by all in the stadium. "Thank you for attending the Seventeenth Bi-Annual Chunin Exams here in our great village! I remind all of those that are guest to behave accordingly. I wouldn't want to be forced to throw someone out."

Getting a chuckle from most of the crowd, the Hokage's attention turned to the ten standing in the arena along with Kakashi. "Gennin of the Leaf, the Rock and the Sand… May you remember why you are here. Today you are here to compete for a chance of being promoted to chunin. Hold nothing back and show us why you are deserving of such a promotion and give us a great show!"

"You may begin!" Hizuren finished, the Hokage only smiled at everyone as he stood at the balcony a little longer before nodding to Kakashi to take over.

Seating in the middle seat, between the two visiting Kages, the elderly Hokage pulled out his own bracket and smirked. "So are you sure of this, Naruto? I don't like to think I would lose a couple thousand on this."

"Oh good… I thought I was the only one that threw his money in the lot." The Kazekage gasped in relief before pulling out his own bracket and looked at it. "I have Gaara and Raiu in the finals. It makes the most sense since the two are jinchuuriki and vessels are always difficult to defeat. Gaara should win but I am unsure of Raiu's abilities."

"Raiu will win." The Tsuchikage commented before pulling out his own bracket as he believed it was a sure thing and walk out of here with ten thousand in his pocket at the very least. "This style sets it up so where he will not be tested until the finals by Gaara and by then he'll be worn down by his competition."

"Naruto are you sure?" The Hokage said one last time as he looked at his bracket and the blonde nodded. "Alright then… The finals will be Sasuke and Raiu and Raiu will win as Sasuke will be utterly exhausted when he faces him. …I don't like going against my own ninja, Naruto."

"He's got a point though, Lord Hokage. I love my brother but if he can get past Gaara he will be exhausted and have to have another fight just to get to the finals. Raiu should take this." Itachi commented before pulling out his own bracket revealing he had Raiu and Lee, surprisingly, in the finals.

Seeing that another guard was in the bet as well, finally all guards but Naruto pulled out their own bracket and started bickering with one another and the Kages.

Naruto simply twitched. Was this how Kage's spent their free time? If this was any indicator on what they did on business trips…No wonder nothing ever got done.

Down below, the arena slowly began to quiet down as all gennin outside of Kerlya and Aschen stayed on the ground. All Konoha gennin in the stands tensed as they remembered how easily she handled the sound gennin. It didn't help their cause because Ino was close to beting if she had actually knocked Ralts unconscious.

"I don't feel good about this… While my mother and sister say Kerlya is a genius and that is why she graduated early… We have always been close in skill." Kiba spoke with a little trepidation about this fight as his squad had seen how good her team was in the forest.

"Don't worry… I know Kerlya has improved greatly in this last month if it is anything compared to how much I've come along." Sakura spoke with a confident smirk as she knew that Yugito's training matched Naruto's in intensity and growth. "Still this girl worries me. Just from her movements in her fight in the prelims…"

"She's lighting fast with the nunchuck and she seems to have a mastery for water jutsu… For a Rock ninja." Shino commented as he analyzed her when they caught a glimpse of them in the forest.

"And she has a lot of chakra for a kunoichi." Hinata spoke, half her face covered in bandages as her skin still had not recovered completely and would be badly scarred when it did as she refused a skin graft.

Sakura could only shake her head as she looked down at her friend and flicked her hand through her hair. "I'm still not worried. I know she has been prepared for much worse than what that Rock kunoichi can offer. It may be close… But I have faith."

Finally back down at the arena, Kakashi went through his progressions before checking one last time with the two fighters. "If both of you are prepared… Then let the first battle of the Chunin Exam Finals start!"

Kerlya didn't waste time and charged straight towards Aschen with her hands drawn to her claws in case her opponent drew her nunchuck. She wasn't disappointed when the black haired girl drew forth her weapon of choice and withdrew her claws to meet the weapon.

But to her greatest surprise, Aschen easily shifted to the side with frightening agility and flicked her nunchuck up and into her chest. Or so the Rock gennin thought would happen as she was caught off guard by Kerlya's agility, matching her own, and shifting out of the blow and drew her claw to her face.

Flipping back to avoid the blow, she dragged her hand after a few seals against the ground and ran forward as Ralts joined his mistress and was fed a pill and they began their transformation. Not going to let this happen, she tossed her nunchuck ahead towards her partner to put him out of this early.

With a crack, Ralts immediately turned back to his canine form much to Kerlya's surprise. The amount of force it took to knock Ralts down so easily… Frightened her. She had only seen Naruto and Yugito put him down without any trouble. …But she gave up her weapon to do it.

Lifting the nunchuck she drew it into her own pouch and slashed out at Aschen as she arrive but to her horror she had a new weapon drawn… A kusarigama.

It was an odd weapon choice, she had to admit, but the weapon was said to be once popular by the ninjas of old when the samurai were in control. The small hand scythe was normally used to cut weeds but the ball bearing at the end was to smash into the armor of samurai and knock them unconscious.

Her claws could barely do anything to block the small scythe as it was too late to counter the blade. So putting her fist into the mid handle of the weapon, only her forearm was gashed as the blade went across it before hooking her claw and pulling it off.

Jumping back and hissing, she had no time to stand still as Aschen began twirling the ball and chain on the other end and flicked it towards her skull. Ducking beneath and rushing her Kerlya started a chain of seals before she was suddenly interrupted as a geyser of water burst right in front of her, halting her progress.

"Ah… I expected as much." Aschen grinned as saw the water burst out from a large crack in the ground that suddenly emerged. "It was said that the Second Hokage had just as much to do with Konoha's creation… As he filled an underground water reservoir to make the land fertile and give his people a water source. It seems one of my clones found it and tunneled a supply of water to me."

Kerlya's eyes widened as Aschen began going through a long series of hand seals as water began to pour around them saturate the ground before other geysers erupted as the earth below gave way and started filling the arena floor. She tried to charge but her opponent finished the seals too quickly. "Suiton: Suiryudan."

A dragon formed from the first well of gushing water and roared before and nearly drove Kerlya off her feet. If she had not slid underneath the rest of the blast she would have been in real trouble as the dragon crashed into the wall and caused severe damage.

Rolling away from the ball bearing and rushing her opponents, she growled loudly as her opponent finished another series of seals and water began to spin behind her. "Suiton: Daibakufu."

The water behind her shot out in a giant mass of spiraling water, bearing down onto Kerlya. She did not hesitate for a second with a quick push off from the ground, her body spun into her clan's most well known technique. "TSUGA!"

Tearing through the water burst with almost simplistic ease, Kerlya flipped out of her spin and tossed her other claw towards Aschen. She expected her opponent to block it with her small scythe and she did but this was what she wanted as she drew out two kunai and landed in front of her and sliced out at her mid section.

Using the chain to stop the blow, Aschen's eye widened as the kunai snapped the chain with unreal ease before the other knocked the other half of the kusarigama from her hand. Not wanting to stay this close, she tried to jump back but Kerlya had expected this and while she could not keep her there she did the next best thing.

She slammed her foot into the girl's stomach.

Tumbling across the small layer of water that had formed over the ground as the geysers stop gushing water, Aschen's gaze went straight to see what her opponent was doing. Only to see Kerlya charging her to close the ground quickly, she had no choice in this as it was going to be a close range battle. So drawing two sais, she jumped into a counter charge.

The weapons met with a loud clang as the two met each other's slash. Kerlya was faster to react to and slashed out her other kunai but it was blocked too before Aschen followed with a slash of her own. Keeping up, she stopped the slash and tried to stab through Aschen's guard only for the sai to catch the kunai in its guard and nearly rip it out of Kerlya's grip.

As the two continued exchanging slashes only for them to be deflected, Kiba looked onto the fight with a sense of pride for his clan and slight irritation that Kerlya had bested him again. "Yeah! Kick her ass! Show her who the boss is!"

"How quickly he changes his tune…" Chouji muttered as he watched the fight in slight awe as well but in irritation on how quickly Kiba jumped on the bandwagon. "But she can't keep this up. It looks like she's fighting a weapon's mistress in her own game. Only Tenten probably can match her in such a contest."

Sakura could only grin at this outcome and knew this was in Kerlya's favor. And at that moment Yugito had shown up to watch of the rest of the gennin. "Yes that is true but… Kerlya has hardly wasted any chakra so far. She is simply wearing down Aschen's guard and then she is going to finish this as that girl is almost already out of chakra and can't defend an attack with chakra and will be too battered to physically withstand one."

"It won't be long now… Kerlya almost has her." Sakura finished as she remembered when the two were a match for another and Kerlya always seemed to win their fights as this was how she naturally fought.

Wear the opponent down then bombard them with overwhelming strength or jutsu. A style she and Sasuke had begun to pick up from their fellow team mate.

Aschen knew this was not going in her favor and had to either end this fight or get away. She was easily better than her with bladed weapons but this was the problem. She was no slouch and match her move for move and while she could eventually win this was taking its toll on her and even if she won this fight she might not be able to win her next as there was only going to be a one match interval as this was an elimination bout.

Kerlya kept her focus as while she could see Aschen was slowly wearing down her hand speed was increasing each second as if she wanted to put an end to this. If she kept this too close for very much longer she would be on the wrong end of her fury of slashes and could be scarred for life if she was lucky.

Stepping it up and turning this into not only a battle of weapons, Kerlya found and opening and spun dropped a round house into Aschen's chest. The girl was so surprised as they both had been battling with their blades only that she slid back before screaming out as she threw her sai at her. So countering with her kunai to deflect it.

Both took off towards the other as their weapons collided, knocking the kunai into the water next to Aschen and the sai into the air by Kerlya's head. Grabbing the weapon, they met again in a series of slashes in an equal bout.

It seemed Aschen was not use to the most basic ninja weapon, the kunai. Kerlya quickly spotted this and with the sai, she caught it within its guard and ripped it out of her gasp but on the down side was that Aschen had done the same.

Not going to let that stand, the Inuzuka slammed the back of her fist across the Rock kunoichi's check bone before thrusting the sai in. Aschen caught it in her guard but was unable to rip it free but this cost her as their weapons were locked. Kerlya brought the fight into a clench.

Driving her knee into the girl's stomach repeatedly as she kept the sais locked, Kerlya's felt them slipping from her grasp and it wouldn't be too long till Aschen had both again. And it wasn't helping that the girl seemed to know enough of hand-to-hand to realize how to release herself form a one handed clench.

Having her clench hand knocked away from the back, Kerlya lost grip of the sai and skidded back from Aschen as she now had both her sais and was almost on her. There was almost nothing she could do to stop this attack. There wasn't enough time for her to draw two kunai and retrieve the ones she had lost.

But her day was saved as Ralts was awake again and took Aschen's feet out from underneath her with a well timed tackle. The dog couldn't do much else but paddle away as the water was enough for him to be unable to walk regularly when Aschen threw one of her sais towards the canine.

Kerlya intercepted it with one of her kunai before she went through a series of hand seals and flipped into the air, righting herself and giving her one last look of her opponent as she took a deep breath. "Katon: Inu no Makai!"

"NO WAY!" Kiba screamed out in shocked as he witnessed Kerlya using the technique. "The Dogs of Hell? She can actually use them!"

"What's the problem? You sound upset and a… A little scared." Ino spoke in worry as Kiba, while always very vocal and emotional, did not seem to be one to show fear.

"The Dogs of Hell is a secret technique of our clan… Only able to be used by those with a fire affinity." Kiba started with narrowed eyes as he saw this technique as almost forbidden. "It is said that the owner of the jutsu can communicate with the deceased partners of fallen clansman and call them forth into bodies of fire and have them assault their opponent. And if one is skilled enough with them…"

"Each single dog could have the impact of a Grand Fireball." Kiba finished with narrowed eyes. "The amount of chakra it takes would mean that she has easily more than double of my own as I can't even dream of using that technique right now."

"Kiba…" Hana's voice spoke, knowing this outcome was likely after she first started teaching Kerlya this the month before the exam. "Don't let your jealousy get the better of you little bro… I only taught this to Kerlya as I was asked to and I don't turn Naruto down."

Kiba could only growl but kept his eyes on the match. If Kerlya was this strong now… He had to take his training to a whole different level. He was the heir to the clan.

He couldn't let one of his own clansmen be stronger then he was.

A fury of flames spewed from her mouth almost like wave of fire at first. The flames quickly took shape into a dozen full sized dogs, like those of their clan. All landed on the water and steam burst from their landing, blocking the view for anyone, before all twelve burst from the steam and straight to Aschen.

Said Rock kunoichi's eyes widened at the sight before her, unsure how to handle this. Her chakra was almost non-existent and her muscles burned and stung. A soldier pill would take care of this problem as it soothed the muscles and refilled the chakra but she didn't have one on her at the moment.

There was only one thing she could do about this. She had to dodge.

Flipping over the first one, the next jumped to where she had flipped but she easily slid underneath it. However to her immense surprise a fire dog slid under his own brethren to hit her. Barely rolling out of the way, she was forced to her feet quickly just to slide out of the way of the next.

It was almost as… As if these dogs were sentient beings and had their own will as her opponent did not seem like she was controlling the movement of these flaming canines. That was quite disturbing to her but she had no time to think about this any longer.

Being forced to the air as one came from behind, two more jumped to meet her in mid air. She didn't have the chakra to burst higher or halt her rise into the air so the only thing she could do was throw her sais at the two flaming beasts. But even that did not work to how she expected.

Both erupted and their flames spewed over her. Her luck happened to be that the distance the flames traveled dulled the impact and the burns. Rolling her body so she could see below, her eyes widened as each canine came for her in mid air. There was no way she was going to dodge this! She could avoid a few but not all ten!

Pulling out as many weapons as she could throw, she was only able to take care of five before the rest overwhelmed her and ignited their flames around her.

Aschen screamed out as the flames burned around and collapsed onto her being. The flames were hotter than even Satoshi's and felt like they actually came from hell itself.

Thankfully the pain washed away as she finally hit the water and sunk into the small depth. The fire thankfully could not withstand the water and was finally extinguished. There was no resistance to stave off the oncoming darkness and she let herself slip into unconsciousness.

"Winner Inuzuka Kerlya!" Kakashi announced as he felt Aschen pass out and knew she would not be getting up any time soon.

At that very moment Kerlya fell onto her knees, sweat pouring dampening her clothing. She had used almost all of her chakra in that attack and the rest to match Aschen's movements. She had hoped she could make it to the next fight against Lee without having to resort to the Dogs of Hell but… Now she was in trouble.

She was, however, surprised when she was helped to her feet by the same gennin she was currently thinking about along with Sasuke. "Thanks guys…"

"Don't mention it! You are a leaf shinobi like we are and we are suppose to help one another! Now I'll get you to the stands before Sasuke's fight starts or I'll do a hundred laps around Konoha before our match!" Lee happily chirped before he took over completely for Sasuke seeing that the next fight was the Uchiha's.

Blushing, for reasons unknown, Kerlya felt tempted to slow down their progress. She didn't doubt Lee could run a hundred laps around Konoha during this fight and that would have to drain him… But she also found the tactic against a fellow leaf shinobi to be cheap. She would save that for someone that deserved it, not Lee.

But it seemed her luck was about to change. Her own personal medic had come to help her. How she loved her team. It was the perfect design. A great illusionist, a powerful close to mid range combat specialist, an infamous ninjutsu powerhouse and an apprentice medic with a great understanding of medicine.

The sand swirled before him and in within it Gaara had appeared on the arena floor. Sasuke smirked at this. He would have to thank Sakura for giving him everything he needed to defeat the sand vessel.

Pocketing his hands, acting like Garra was beneath him, Sasuke didn't even bother to pay attention to the sand shinobi. Of course this was a tactic to get him riled and have him attack him, but he knew the sand shinobi would keep his composure. He, in fact, was counting on it.

"I hope little bro isn't too confident about this…" Miko groaned after she caught glimpse of what Sasuke was doing. "He'll get his ass handed to him if he doesn't take this seriously…"

"He's taking it seriously. I have to hand it to him though. He's using Kakashi's own taijutsu style as only he keeps such a lax stance." Mikoto comforted her daughter as she quickly caught hold of what Sasuke had been trained in over the last month.

"I just hope he doesn't blow it. After Kerlya winning the first match it would be a shame to see him go down." Hana stated, seating next to them after she went to go check on Kiba and his friends. "Yugi… What do you think?"

Looking down in the arena with a critical eye, Yugito shrugged as she slid in by Mikoto. "It is hard to say. I know Gaara most likely trained, but without a teacher like Sasuke had I can't be sure how far he progressed. But nonetheless this will be a close fight and either can win. And even if they do win… The front portion of the tournament is a brutal path to the final."

"Tell me about it… The Rock gennin doesn't even look like he's going to get a challenge before he gets to the final round." Miko groaned at the set up of the matches and felt like it was rigged. Not that anyone could rig it within Naruto's sensory range but still…

"Alright you two!" Kakashi motioned to Sasuke and Gaara, making eye contact with Sasuke for a moment. "I want a good and clean fight. …Ah, who am I kidding! Fight as dirty as you want! Begin!"

"Has Kakashi lost his mind?" Hizuren twitched in the Hokage booth besides the Naruto and Itachi.

"Probably." Naruto responded with his norm before shrugging his shoulders. "I would have lost mine training my team… But since I never was sane I couldn't."

While Itachi and the Third twitched at Naruto, the sand began to carefully pour from Gaara's gourd. The rock girl had really altered his plans drastically. He could still use his sand while it was wet but it was far more difficult to do so and after it was completely saturated it was useless.

He could always tunnel for more and create a small outlet so he could use as much as he needed. Yet if he wasn't close enough to it the sand would be useless. But nonetheless…

As Gaara started to create what seemed to be an air tunnel in the foot, maybe two feet, deep water Sasuke knew he had to act there. He couldn't let Gaara gather the sand he needed. Sure his strategy was to take what the sand ninja threw out and throw it back at him but soon as he brought more sand into the equation…

Rushing across the shallow water and to his opponent, Sasuke veered directions suddenly as the sand leapt up to counter his attack. But at the very moment Sasuke changed directions he vanished.

Oh Gaara was not happy at the moment. The last person that just vanished on him was that pink haired girl he fought in the preliminaries. So if he just vanished… He hated fucking speedsters!

Reappearing directly behind Gaara, Sasuke's fist caught his cheek as Gaara turned to see what had happened and knocked him back. Not hesitating as Gaara slid from him, he kept his pace and rushed the sand wielder, ducking to the side of his sand and jumping into his ring and catching the strap of his gourd.

Using a little of what Kerlya had done to Aschen, Sasuke repeatedly drove his knee into Gaara's abdomen before swing Gaara full circle and tossing him towards the closest wall just as his sand surrounded him.

The sand collapsed onto Sasuke but the Uchiha quickly switched out and found Gaara on the surface of the stadium's wall. Twirling a few shuriken from his pouch, he tossed them towards Gaara and followed behind. The sand did as he expected and preemptively intercepted his projectiles and attempted to lash out at him.

Using a burst of his superior speed, he appeared above Gaara but the red head's smirk suddenly had him on guard. He instantly realized why as multiple spikes of sand shot around Gaara, forming a dangerous shield. Deciding not to attack, he focused chakra to his feet and pushed off the first spike to gather some distance and solve how to attack now.

But soon as he pushed off the sand spikes burst out towards him. Cursing and dropping to the water, he pushed off and into the air and over the spikes. Yet it wasn't enough as the sand tendrils shattered and small cutting spikes tore through Sasuke. His arms were cut heavily, protecting his face and torso but his vitals were unharmed.

Landing and evaluating Gaara from a distance, Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the dark smirk adorned on the red head's face. He liked this kid less and less. He cared less if he was a jinchuuriki and deserved to be pitied… This guy wanted nothing but blood. That was a monster by his definition.

Having an idea, Sasuke went through a variety of seals in rapid succession before his tri tomoe Sharingan spun. "Sution: Suiryudan!"

The dragon burst from the shallow water before Sasuke and roared as it crashed into the spot Gaara had occupied. The Suna shinobi wisely jumped up to avoid the dragon and having his sand soaked. But what caught his attention was the lack of damaged the dragon had done to the wall compared to the Rock Kunoichi…

It was as if very little chakra was put into it… It was a set up!

Looking straight ahead, Sasuke was already on Gaara with his hands burning with electricity that admitted what seemed to be chirping. Lashing the sand he had out in his gourd towards the Uchiha to keep this attack from striking out against him.

Gaara fell into Sasuke's trap once more as the bolts of electricity from one palm fired into the sand and dispersed it as his other hand still held the electricity in his palm as he thrust it forward, towards Gaara's chest. "CHIDORI!"

At the very last second Gaara managed to twist away from the blow. But his lack of speed was obvious as Sasuke quickly plunged it through the side of his rib cage, taking a few ribs with the electrical surge.

The red head yelled as he hit the ground, water splashed around him. Before his seal had been set as it was, the sand demon would have taken care of the wound and its presence would have filled him in moments. The problem was now the way it was set… It could still heal him but it could not do so as quickly. His only benefit was now being able to sleep and controlling the demon's powers as his own.

Thrashing about, trying to pick himself up and continue the fight, Gaara fell forward as he stood onto one knee. His eyes watched Sasuke carefully as he paced around him, looking for a new opening to attack.

Narrowing his eyes at this, Gaara gripped his wounded rib cage and commanded the last of his sand into a dome around him.

"Not happening… Surio no jutsu!" Sasuke growled out before a shadow clone burst from the ground before and surrounded Gaara before Sasuke started the seals of Chidori once more. "Surrender now or my Chidori will take your head."

Never having been put in a position like this before, never having so little sand to aid him, Gaara growled out at the Uchiha. This was humiliating. He was going to be beaten by this weakling? He was Gaara of the Desert and no one defeat him!

"GO AHEAD AND TRY!" Gaara roared out as golden charka burst around him and dispersed the water prison and the shadow clone.

Sasuke's eyes widened in horror as the golden chakra attracted every grain of sand in the area to Gaara. It quickly took shape, far faster than anything he had ever seen before. But the horror had only begun as Gaara's shape was not final.

He had taken the form the Tanuki within his gut.

Thanking his lucky stars that he had already went through the seals and had the chakra ready, the Chidori burst to life. Sasuke knew that he had only one more shot in this fight. Sure he had enough chakra for another Chidori but…

He doubted he would get the chance to use another if this one failed.

With no hesitation, Sasuke charged as he pulled his electrified hand back and drew a kunai with his other. Gaara countered his charge with a deafening roar before he struck out his claw.

Batting it with his other arm, Sasuke stuck the kunai and used it to catapult himself into the air. The other claw extended out and slashed at his face. Moving just enough so that it didn't take his head, three blood marks trailed down his cheek as he drug the lighting in his palm down the arm to slow his pace and to aim carefully to end this battle.

That turned to be a bad move as the other claw slashed out and caught him, his left arm guarding against the blow but did little to nothing to stop the blow. Ignoring the gash marks as he tumbled, he thrust the lighting in his palm to the closest body part to him. That just happened to be Gaara's hip.

Gaara roared out in agony as the Chidori pierced through his hip bone and brought him down to one knee. But it wasn't over as he noted Sasuke rolling away. He swatted the boy away with his tail but he still noted that he was smirking… How dare he smirk at…?

Watching Gaara be engulfed by the explosion of his tag, stuck into the bottom of his tail, Sasuke slowly stood and wiped the blood from his face. Staring at the debris of his fallen foe, he waited to see the result. If he failed there was little more he could do but try one more Chidori and burn the last of his chakra he was trying to conserve.

Finally a smirk graced his lips as the cloud of debris settled and Gaara laid on a small pile of sand that extended above the water's reach. He was out cold.

"Uchiha Sasuke is the victor!" Kakashi announced to the crowd while grinning at Sasuke for win the fight despite the difficult opponent he was up against.

"YES! SASUKE!" Sakura thrust her fist into the air, having return from healing Kerlya the best she could, happy to see both her friends won their first fight and continue their shot at winning the tournament and becoming chunin.

"Wow… The Chidori huh?" Mikoto smirked at her youngest son as he turned his head towards them and waved. "Now that he has made it past Gaara his next fight should be easier but… He burned through a lot of chakra to beat Gaara."

Hinata only nodded as everyone was sitting close together and enjoying the fights with one another. "From what I can see he has enough to use that technique again one more time before he depletes his coils. …But I don't think Sasuke is stupid enough to use it again."

"Oh I'm sure Sasuke has something up his sleeve. I know little bro wouldn't just show off everything in his first fight even if he was going up against a high caliber opponent." Miko stated as she really wanted to get out and fight now after watching the last two fights.

How she wished she was a gennin again. They had so much more fun.

"Two for two right now… Looks like you may be right about this, Naruto." Hizuren spoke as he checked off another win in his favor on his bracket. "So how are your brackets coming?"

Neither the Tsuchikage nor Kazekage said a word as they angrily crossed out Gaara from their brackets as they had thought Gaara winning was a sure thing. Leave it to Konoha and an Uchiha to screw everything up.

Finally the fourth Kazekage growled out. "Dammit! If it wasn't for that extra seal… Dammit! That seals is a blessing and a curse! Now Gaara is in heavier control but he can't release as much of it at once!"

"Don't be too sore, Lord Kazekage." The elderly Tsuchikage spoke with a smirk as his bracket wasn't entirely crushed yet as Raiu had yet to fight. "After all he was trained by the Prince of Konoha here. It isn't too much of a surprise as I had this fight going either way and the winner to fight Raiu in the finals."

"Yeah, yeah… Whatever. Let's just wait and see who wins out of everyone. …Maybe I can still win some betting in the single matches." The fourth Kazekage groaned as he came out all the way here to Konoha only to watch his gennin, his son at that, lose in the first round.

Their trip home was going to be a silent one.

"Crap… I have to fight again." Kerlya groaned, still exhausted from her battle against Aschen. The only bright side was she wasn't running on fumes like she was right after the fight. She thanked Sakura for that.

She wanted to fight and to keep going but as she was right now she couldn't stand up against Lee. She had difficulties the one time they sparred and they both were at top condition then.

But she wasn't going to quit. She was an Inuzuka and the last thing they did was quit. It got them in a lot of trouble at times but it was bred into their being. They weren't quitters.

So dragging her way back to the arena, barely having enough in her coils to stay afloat on the water, Kerlya's eyes widened as she noticed something about Lee. He was simply standing in the water splashing at the top of his shins. Could Lee… Could he not use chakra?

This was a stunning revelation to Kerlya. But it was one that very well could give her the edge to take this fight and move onto the next round and take a longer rest. She hated to be cheap but… This was about becoming chunin and they were ninja.

There was nothing considered cheap in a battle between ninja.

Making sure Ralts was ready, not that he could do much as he already ate a pill an unfortunately feeding him one so soon would cause him severe problems, Kerlya slid into her clan's stance, one that allowed them to use their claws as their main weapon, she smirked. "Don't hold back on me Lee."

"I look forward to our fight!" Lee pumped his fist before he slid into his battle stance, grinning as he was looking forward to a good fight against a good friend.

"It seems both of you are ready so I won't get in your way." Kakashi shrugged his shoulders, returning more to normal with a stoic demeanor, he slid his hands down. "Let this match begin!"

Since she didn't have that much chakra as Sakura could only recover so much, Kerlya had to jump the gun and attack Lee. There was no choice in the matter and she figured Lee's movements would be slowed by the water.

Oh she couldn't be so wrong.

Her eyes widened as Lee wasn't even bothered by the water and hit his normal top speed in near knee deep water. She could not have been as surprised when Lee was on her and smashed an elbow into her gut. Rolling across the water from the blow, she quickly recovered only for Lee to be on her again and this time he was in the air.

Grabbing his fist, she tried to toss him to the side and gain some distance, her eyes widened in horror. He was much lighter than she remembered and he was able to take advantage of this and break free, barely flew a few feet and quickly righted himself.

Lee kept his edge and benefited from Kerlya's shock and inability to put some distance between them. Jumping up and out of the water, he barraged her with a flurry of quick fists and ended with a kick to her guard. But with just a tap on the ground, he twisted his foot and disappeared from Kerlya's eyes.

Kerlya couldn't believe what she was seeing. Lee didn't even need to walk on water for this fight. But the worst of this was that he knocked her back from his blows and then with pure speed he disappeared. There was nothing she could do as she felt his presence at the last second before his knee connected to the back of her head.

Before she could fall into the water and possibly drown, Lee caught the knocked out Kerlya before lifting her onto his shoulder. Kakashi saw this and called it. "Rock Lee will move onto the next round to face Uchiha Sasuke!"

Handing Kerlya to the medics that came to see to her, Lee smiled before bowing lightly and heading to the contestant's booth to watch the next fight and to prepare for his fight against Sasuke.

"Ouch… I knew she was going to be outclassed but…" Sakura grimaced as she watched her friend be taken to the medical room there in the stadium.

"She might have gotten overconfident that since Lee couldn't walk on water that he would be slower and that cost her. It is a mistake many would make… I bet no one noticed Lee took of his weights for today." Sasuke responded as Sakura tended to his wounds, watching as the last gash on his arm was mended.

Looking at Lee for a second as he came up and noting that he did not have his weights on, Sakura simply shook her head and sighed. Her chakra was getting deplete from tending to her teammates. "Lee, do you need anything for me to look at once I'm finished with Sasuke?"

"No, I'm fine Sakura!" Lee spoke with hearts in his eyes directed towards Sakura. "But I must say that your compassion and care for your comrades is…"

"Lee…" Tenten twitched at Lee as he stood right in front of the stairs. "Could you move? You're good guy pose is blocking the entire stairway and I need to get down. My fight is next."

"OH!" Lee suddenly jumped out of Tenten's way. "Good luck Tenten! Let the power of youth guide you and you'll be sure to win!"

"Power of youth… Right." Tenten muttered before she smiled and waved at Lee and Neji. "I'll take care of this guy for you Neji! Just don't go easy on me when we fight!"

"Take care of him first then worry about me, Tenten." Neji spoke for he did not want to see another girl he was close to get hurt, especially if Tenten wasn't focusing on this guy after what he did to Hinata.

But if he did hurt her… He would kill him. Hurting Hinata was strike one and burning her that she needed skin graft to look as she use to be was strike two. If he did anything like that to Tenten he would carve out his heart. His fate be damned!

Making it to the arena floor, Tenten narrowed her gaze and focused her attention onto Satoshi. The punk had badly hurt Hinata, a good friend of hers, and had tried to kill and would have succeed if his own team mate had not of stopped him. It seemed Raiu was the only one of the bunch that was a decent person as she heard about what Aschen did in the forest to the rain team.

Reeling in her emotions, she focused her attention on Satoshi as he was prepared to fight her and had a ninjato strapped onto his belt and his hand was already on the grip. Smirking at this, oh she would delight him if he wanted to play with her in a sword duel.

Getting creeped out by her wicked smirk, Kakashi knew Tenten was ready and seeing how tense Satoshi was, he could guess he was ready to. "As I can see both of you are ready for this, let this fight commence!"

Satoshi went straight for the jugular as he drew his ninjato and sliced for Tenten's neck. He was not interested in showing off his abilities. He wanted to take down every opponent as quickly and with as little energy as possible. He needed every bit of it for these next to rounds to stand any chance against Raiu.

A scimitar burst from her scroll and parried his strike. He figured she was a weapon's mistress as Aschen was so he figured she knew how to handle a sword. But since he was only trained in a sword and Aschen hardly could hold a candle to him in a sword fight he was sure he could win this.

That was when he noticed the second being thrust to his gut. Quickly parrying that blow, he found himself on the wrong end of a fury of slashes from Konoha's weapon's mistress.

The first thing Tenten trained was her hand speed. From since she was a little kid she had always practiced and practiced increasing the speed of her arms and flicks of her wrists. Living around all the weapons her parents made she wanted to master every single one of them and the first step was to have fluid and fast hands.

And that she had and while she was a master at no weapon yet she was very, very good with all of them. All two hundred plus weapons she carried on her. And she was going to make this guy feel the burn before she decided to switch weapons.

Satoshi was in trouble and he knew it. He could not keep blocking her strikes as fast as they were coming. This girl was far faster than Aschen and it seemed that training with her during the month to get a feel for this girl was not helping him. The only thing that did help was that Aschen had used two swords on him a lot.

Building his chakra in his skin, preparing for his clan's special technique, he was ready to parry the next blow when Tenten tossed both scimitars at his face. It was an effective strategy as he couldn't concentrate any chakra in his body with two blades flying at his eyes.

Ducking below, he was surprised when the two clanged against each other just an inch from where they would have hit him and fell harmlessly behind him. It was in that moment Tenten pulled out two large scrolls in the middle of the air. "Soshryu!"

Hundreds if not thousands of various weapons appeared besides Tenten as the smoke of a dragon rose around her. Then in the next moment, each weapon was tossed towards Satoshi. Tenten's arms were simple blurs to everyone as she threw each and every weapon within the span of ten seconds.

However a wall of earth stood before Satoshi, who had no choice but to call onto it for defense. There was no way he was going to dodge the amount of projectiles that were aimed towards him. He would have needed to be much faster in order to do that and speed wasn't one of his strong suits.

But now he was pissed. She was besting him and he would not lose to someone from Konoha much less some broad!

Charging at her as she landed, his chakra flared as he neared her. He could see her eyes widened and knew there wasn't enough time to get out of the way of this as he released his attack. "Katon: Fureabāsuto!"

Fire and ash erupted around him, engulfing Tenten in the blast. But this time there was no screaming as Tenten burst from the flames and ashes with some bad burns but nothing that couldn't be taken care of.

In the fire, Satoshi was screaming out in agony and why was soon apparent as Tenten held onto dozens of wires. But that proved to be her downfall as a large dragon burst from the wires as Satoshi wasn't just screaming in pain.

"Katon: Ryuka!"

Tenten couldn't release her wires fast enough and this time she truly was engulfed by the flames. Screaming out, she collapsed onto the ground but not before she threw a kunai straight into the ashes of the eruption.

The flames were immediately extinguished as Satoshi yelled out in pain as the ashes fell to the earth from their debris cloud. The lone kunai had struck him in his collar bone.

Deciding against ripping it out and letting the medic deal with the damage as he would need to be in fighting condition soon enough, Satoshi sighed in relief when Kakashi announced his victory. "This match goes to Satoshi!"

"Ah… Finally a blemish on your bracket, eh Lord Hokage?" The Kazekage grinned while he watched the Hokage twitch at his supposedly perfect bracket made by Naruto.

"Naruto… I thought you said this was guaranteed!" Hizuren yelled at Naruto as he did not want to lose a chance of claiming the large pot that a lot of people had thrown into the bracket bets this year.

"No I said it was a solid bracket. Besides I've learned not to bet over the years… Yugito never loses and she threw a few thousand in. Her bracket will be the perfect one. That is the only guarantee I can give you." Naruto calmly responded to his Hokage, not seeing the big deal in losing a few thousand ryo but could see why he wanted to claim the whole pot.

"Wait… Are you saying that we're all going to lose our money and you didn't tell us?" The fourth Kazekage raged at Naruto at the realization that there was only one person that was going to win the pot.

"Of course!" Yugito decided to make her presence known for she wanted to be closer to Naruto. "Old man Hokage… Can you get someone else to guard you for a while? It isn't like Naruto doesn't have this spot marked already."

Both the Tsuchikage and Kazekage suddenly became deathly ill at Yugito's words while the Hokage only shook his head. "I'm surprised he's stayed here this long. Naruto you can take a break. You can to Itachi. Hayate and Yamato were going to fill in at the break anyways."

Wondering when his sensei had become an Anbu much less an Anbu captain, Naruto shrugged as he followed Yugito into a secluded hallway as the fight between Shikamaru and Raiu was about to get started. "So what is it that you want?"

"Can't a girl want to make out with her boyfriend?" Yugito stated as they finally decided to make it official during the month break when they saw each other, mostly during Kerlya's training at night. For some reason that had been the trigger to their relationship.

Weird…

Naruto could only tilt his head in agreement, mildly intrigued by 'making out', before glaring at her. "I guess… But I know you better than that. So what do you want?"

"I know you were scouting Raiu this entire month… What have you found out about him?" Yugito sighed for she knew trying to get anything past Naruto was nearly impossible as he was so damn perceptive.

"There is no doubt he possesses the seven tails and that he knows enough of time and space to use that technique of his. However he has a limit with it and can only use it five times in one day. He's lucky that Nanabi is sealed within him or it would obviously drain more stamina from him and make it five times in a couple of days as his technique has not been perfected." Naruto commented for he concluded.

Narrowing her eyes at this for a moment, she looked out at the battle field to see the fight start; Yugito had one last question to ask. "Do you think that he was sent here to assassinate…"

"No. He was here to show off Iwa's power and gather less attention from Konoha and to the Rock. …Besides he only has one target and that is me. My existence is the reason of his suffering." Naruto softly stated before he turned his attention to the fight and leaned against the wall, ending this conversation with Yugito.

Shikamaru was not one to normally fight a hopeless battle like he knew this one to be. There was no way he was going to beat this guy and he knew that. But there was one reason why he didn't forfeit this fight immediately.

He had to weaken this guy for one of his own comrades to beat him later on. No matter if it was Neji, Sasuke or Lee. He had to force this guy to expend himself against him and his shadows. The only problem was…

This arena barely had any shade to begin with! It was a Nara's worst nightmare!

Thankfully Shikamaru already had a plan for this as he drew a single kunai while Raiu simply mimicked him. Frowning as he noted this, he shook his head before rushing the rock vessel. Everything seemed to go according to plan for Raiu counter charged and just before they met Shikamaru did a baseball slide beneath Raiu's legs and dug the kunai into the ground.

There was a flash bang on the handle.

Soon as it went off, Shikamaru made it to the tree. It was his best refugee thanks to the shade and if his opponent neared it he would be able to catch him in his shadow. Still he needed to by some time and thankfully he had a few balloons and umbrellas on him…

Having them pre-inflated for this and connected to a few umbrellas, he tossed them into the air to cast shade on more of the arena by blotting out the sun. Now to find Raiu and catch him…

"Nice trick… Too bad there is one thing he didn't count on." Shikamaru's eyes went wide as he looked up to see Raiu simply sitting on the tree with his hands in a seal. "I happen to be very talented in wind jutsu."

A furious gale burst around Raiu, knocking everything thing away from him. The umbrellas were blown away while the tree bent and nearly cracked from the force of the jutsu but held firm. Once the gale ended, Raiu was no longer on the tree and Shikamaru was on guard before he felt the cold blade of a kunai on the back of his neck.

"I win."

"I don't think so." Shikamaru commented as he closed his eyes for a moment and mimicked Raiu's current position. "Shadow Possession successful… Now time for the next step."

Forcing Raiu to drop the kunai, he did a few seals that Raiu mimicked before his eyes opened. "Kage Nui!"

Tendrils made of the shadows lifted from the shade and surrounded Raiu, all poised to strike and impale his body. Narrowing his eyes for a moment, he tried to force his way through the hold but he couldn't muster enough strength and there would be enough time to avoid these… There was no choice.

Shikamaru suddenly felt that he was holding nothing the exact moments his tendrils would have pierced Raiu's body and ended the fight. He was actually hopeful for it to work as if he won… He could actually insure that Konoha ninja would come out of this tournament as the winner.

But it was to his dismay that he had somehow escape and out of the corner of his eye there stood Raiu, in the middle of the arena. "Very good… You actually had me there. …I didn't think I would be forced to use that against a gennin. But now that I have… I might as well not waste any more of my chakra."

"So… Say hello." Green chakra began to form around Raiu as his eyes shifted and bled crimson before finally the shape of a beetle with two wings formed behind him. "To the demon inside of me… Nanabi take flight."

For once in his life Shikamaru didn't find something like this in his words troublesome. He found this so much more…

This was terrifying.

* * *

"What is it my lady? Why are we stopping here?" A tall figure spoke to his shorter partner after noticing that she stopped and closed her eyes.

She did not respond immediately and kept her eyes shut. Finally after a moment her eyes opened to reveal dead red eyes. "We will rest here. Any closer and we will slip into his sensory range. He'll be on guard today thanks to Orochimaru's appearance in the leaf a month ago."

The tall man only nodded. He had to expect as much with for the Prince of Konoha was a hard one to fool. "I'll take over first watch and take care of any stragglers that might find us here. I wouldn't want to spoil your homecoming."

"This is no longer my home… Now that my husband is no longer here. This place never was kind to me outside of that lovable fool." She stated as the wind whipped around her and her red hair flared behind her. "Kisame… Leave him to me. I don't want any interference, understand? I can deal with him alone."

Kisame only grinned before bowing slightly to the red haired princess. "You have my word… Lady Kushina."

* * *

**A/N**: Well there is chapter nineteen. Sorry I had to cut this in two chapters but it was necessary from just how long this chapter is already. Some might say just skip the unnecessary fights or summarize them like I did in the prelims but… I felt these were somewhat necessary. And don't worry. After this next chapter Naruto will be on full focus once more. …Or at least most of the time.

Some might be wondering why Orochimaru isn't attacking and my answer is… He isn't going to. Naruto's presence in Konoha is too much for him to risk invading thanks to the flash. He has a different plan set to get what he wants without having to deal with Naruto in the process. You could say his main goal is to not deal with Naruto.

So the next chapter will finish the finals and then we'll get started on the final phase of this arc and moving onto the next. Each arc(and now each chapter) has a name on its own and will now be posted along side the starting chapter, if possible.

There is also the thing with the story being too focused on Sakura in the last few chapters and I will admit you are correct. However her role is pratically finished now and out of the three Sasuke will be the only one with a still rather critical role later on. Besides, trust me on this, it starts to focus back onto Naruto and Yugito soon enough. I've already written the next few chapters.

Also I have started putting updates out when I'm finished with each chapter and will be informing when the next chapter will be out, at least for this particular story.

Anyways, if there is any questions or if you have something to say you know the drill and I'll get back to those with the questions.

Peace Out.


	20. Chunin Exam Finale!

Fear.

Is it fear that causes one to hate? Perhaps but that would be too simple. Fear is the justification of hatred.

The truth about hatred is that humans are weak creatures. In their weakness they hate something that is beyond their understanding. If they just took a little time they would realize their hatred was baseless.

It was because of this hatred… Because of this fear that jinchuuriki were born. If one were to simply treat a vessel like a regular human being and not like an outcast or the demon in their belly the vessel would be just like them. Almost at the very least.

All of this he knew but it still did not change the fact that he was a jinchuuriki and he was feared. …He was hated like his fellow brethren. There was nothing that could ever change that. But there was one thing that would make him better than anything else.

Killing the son of the flash and the wielder of the legendary Flying Thunder God. And now he stood before him, shielding his opponent from the power of his demon. "Can't even let one of your own face a beast like one of us? Pathetic."

'Raiu… Don't do this.' A feminine voice echoed within his mind. 'Even if he may be the reason of your pain… It wasn't his doing. I've told you this many times before. He is like you…'

"Shut it!" Raiu growled out at the secondary voice in his head, the one that spoke the most as Nanabi really did not speak too often. "I'll do this right now!"

Chakra began to gather in his palms, forming almost a familiar shape to those that could see. Naruto narrowed his eyes for a moment as it seemed familiar to the Rasengan at first but it became obvious what it was when Raiu held it towards him. It was far worse.

The green chakra exploded towards him in a wave of force, blasting the very air away from the beam and creating shockwaves as it thundered towards Naruto. The blonde, however, simply stuck his left hand forward to intercept the blow much to Raiu's ire and seemingly caught the blast in his palm.

In the next moment the blast struck the wall of the stadium and a massive crater formed from the blow. Naruto's hand was slightly singed but nothing overall different besides the smoke that was rising from his hand and his dull blues piercing into Raiu's crimson.

Raiu's eyes were dilating in and out of proportion at this event. He had the ability to bend space and time to redirect his attack like that? If that was the case what else could he do with space and time? This was a serious setback in his mind for there would have to be more training before he could stand before this man.

Yet before he could further react he his loudly as something was flicked onto his head and began to smoke. Nanabi's chakra began to drain from his being and he realized immediately what it was that he was hit with. A suppression seal.

Waiting until the demon's chakra left his being Raiu ripped the tag of his forehead and glared at Naruto with as much hatred he could muster. He cared not what Fuu had explained to him. This man was the very source of his pain and he would strike him from the earth.

Sooner or later.

"Winner, Raiu…" Kakashi didn't announce loudly this time for he was unsure if this would stand. Naruto had intervened on Shikamaru's behalf as soon as Raiu turned and the kid still attacked.

Keeping his gaze on Raiu as he headed to the contestant's booth, making sure he would try nothing else, Naruto sighed before he turned to Shikamaru. "Sorry for that… But he would have killed you in that state."

"No… You're right. He would have killed me." Shikamaru shivered at the feel of dread that still overwhelmed his senses. "Thank you… I could not have dealt with that."

Simply nodding, Naruto placed his hand on Shikamaru's shoulder before they appeared in front of the Konoha gennin not competing. The first to speak was Chouji as he sadly smiled at his friend. "You did what you could… No shame in that."

"But… Just what is that guy?" Kiba growled out all the while keeping his eyes focused on Raiu in the booth. "That power he summoned forth felt even more dark… and dangerous then what Gaara drew forth against Sakura and Sasuke."

"He's a jinchuuriki. A demon vessel of the seven tailed beast. Gaara is the container of the one tailed beast." Naruto answered Kiba with closed eyes before he stepped away from them and rejoined Yugito at the top of the stairs.

Shikamaru only nodded at this revelation, for he had been expecting as much. "It makes sense… It is no wonder why both were the favorites to make the finals. With the power of a demon at their disposal they must be difficult to defeat. …Sasuke was lucky."

Grimacing as she didn't want to believe that Sasuke's win was based on lucky, Ino had to defend Sasuke. "Maybe it was… Just a little. But it took an incredible amount of skill to be able to accomplish such a feat!"

"Yes… Yes it did. But now he has Lee and worst of all if he makes it through… Raiu will beat the winner of this fight and head to the finals. …Sasuke will have to beat two vessels to win this tournament." Shikamaru grimily noted for his fellow comrade and hoped he would get out of this alright.

"And I… Don't think that is going to happen." He finished leaving everyone in a somber mood.

Being called to the arena, Neji calmly gazed at the injured Satoshi. The idiot had refused to throw this fight and was determined to fight him. He would show him how foolish he was for now he had three strikes against him.

Neji was not going to show him any mercy.

So sliding into his clan's stance, the Hyuuga silently activated his Byukugan and waited for Hatake to give them the signal.

Sighing at what was unfolding here in the finals; Kakashi knew not to delay the battle any further. Both wanted to fight for their own reasons and they were ready for combat. "Seeing that both of you are ready, let the final match of the first round begin!"

For one of the few times in his life, Neji had no patience and went after his opponent. He had always been trained to rein his emotions in and use his opponent's against them to his advantage but he did not care for his right now. He wanted to cause this guy as much pain as he could.

Satoshi drew his ninjato quickly to cut off the Hyuuga's idea of engaging him in close range. No matter what the case, bringing a sword to a fist fight always was a good idea.

But this time it meant no difference. Neji struck Satoshi's hands soon as he drew the blade, the chakra in his finger tips flowing almost perfectly. The Rock gennin hissed out as his hands spassmed and forced him to drop the blade immediately and Neji continued his assault.

He wasn't going to let him get away. Each hit was carefully aimed to maximize the damage done. For now he wouldn't care about sealing away his chakra. He would deal with that later… If this punk was still standing after this next barrage.

Surrendering almost seemed like a good idea for Satoshi. The fight against the weapon mistress was draining and now while he had chakra for another Flare Burst he would drain everything before he met Raiu. But at the current moment getting to Raiu seemed like a daunting task as the Hyuuga was spraying with blow after blow and he could hardly block his strikes.

Neji could see the chakra welling within Satoshi's coils and beginning to travel to his skin. Knowing what this meant, he temporarily stopped his assault before focusing on each chakra point in his body and smirked. "Hey… Did you know? You are in my field of divination!"

Feeling horrified after Neji's first four hits, Satoshi could feel his chakra depleting and rapidly. This was the legendary technique that made Hyuuga feared amongst the ranks of all ninjas. Their ability to seal off the chakra of others was a deadly ability.

After another four blows, Satoshi wasn't going to let this happened. Channeling all his chakra at once to his skin, his eyes burned heatedly as he crossed his arms over his chest and knocked Neji back while heat waves began to emanate from his skin. "I will not be defeated!"

"Katon: Fureabāsuto!"

Fire and ash scattered through the arena once more. It potency was far grander than it had been against Tenten for it seemed to have exploded around Satoshi when he released it.

The entire arena was quiet so they could hear what was happening. But all that could be heard was the panting of the Rock gennin. And finally the ashes and flames dispersed and both warriors stood, one completely unharmed and standing in the middle of a small crater.

Neji smirked at the stunned Iwa ninja before him. His plan had worked and he forced him to drain the remainder of his chakra. Now he was just a sitting duck for him. Playing the waiting game now was his best option. Satoshi would strike soon.

Growling out in frustration for no one had ever escaped his flare burst like this before, Satoshi screamed as he picked up his ninjato and leapt towards Neji. He should have known that it was the last thing he would do for that day.

"Kaiten!"

Chakra swirled around Neji before he spun with it creating an almost impenetrable swirl of chakra. Satoshi crashed into the spiraling shield and was unceremoniously thrown from him and into the still standing tree. However it stood no longer and snapped on contact and finally the top portion fell onto the down Rock gennin.

"Neji is the winner!" Kakashi stated immediately after he checked on Satoshi's condition and found he was still breathing. "There will be a ten minute intermission before the next round starts for all those that have advanced to rest and give our spectators some time to recuperate."

"Well… That was an interesting first round. In the end three of ours made the semi finals. And two happened to be from Gai's squad." Yugito commented from what she had seen so far.

Naruto only shrugged for he expected it to turn out this way. "You have to hand it to Gai… He truly is the best jounin instructor. Not only did he train them well enough to make the finals there is the slightest chance that he could have two students in the final match."

"You don't honestly think Neji is going to beat Raiu, do you?" Yugito raised her eyebrow at Naruto's claim before he shook his head. "That is what I thought… Neji unfortunately already revealed his trump card and I still feel Raiu has a few more left."

"Sensei…" Naruto turned around to see Sasuke and Sakura, the former speaking with a spark in his eyes. Naruto could only grin at this. Sasuke had something planned.

This would be interesting after all.

* * *

"This is interesting… I would have to say." A dark figure emerged from the ground before her, his black and white adorned with a dangerous smirk. "There is a new vessel of the seven tails my lady. Shall I take care of him once this is finished?"

"No." Kushina spoke with her eyes shut so she could focus on the chakra sources around her. "Inform the leader of this development. Allow him to assign a team to capture him. Unless there are any other important details about him that would have Kisame or assign to him there is no need for us to capture him."

"He can bend time and space too." The other half of Zetsu's being spoke, his grin still plastered on his face.

Kushina's eyes snapped open at this revelation and narrowed them for a moment. Sighing and shrugging her shoulders, she turned to see Kisame entering their small hideout before waving Zetsu away. "Go inform your true master about this, Zetsu. He would most certainly want to know of this."

Waiting until Zetsu dissolved into the ground and was long gone Kisame looked at Kushina for a moment and shook his head. "You still are uncertain of this… Aren't you? Meeting your boy, I mean…"

"He is no longer my son… That demon has warped him!" Kushina snapped as her eyes flared in fury. "Minato was fool to ever believe that a child could hold back the will of a demon and now look at my child! He is a mindless drone that summons the beast into its true form! …Damn those fools for not allowing me to do what should have been done then…"

"Naruto should have been with his father… He never would have had to endure this pain!" Kushina spat out before standing up with a growl. "Take over for me here… I'm going out."

Not bothering to stop her, Kisame sighed before he sat next to the fire Kushina had started. Konoha was going to pay… It was going to burn when Kushina was done with it.

* * *

Standing in the arena, which was falling apart at the seams from the first round, both Lee and Sasuke were in the middle of a starring contest. So far Lee was winning. There could be many reasons for this but it was just one in particular that was bothering Sasuke.

Those damn eyebrows were wiggling from Lee's effort to keep a serious face. That was creeping him out!

Finally breaking his eyes, conceding that Lee could stare him down, Sasuke took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His body had taken a beaten but thanks to Sakura it was back near peak condition. The same couldn't be said about his chakra reserves. He had a little over thirty percent left from the looks of it and he would need to keep it.

So to his misfortune he couldn't use the Sharingan in this fight or he could risk burning too much chakra off and not having enough for one last powerful jutsu. He wouldn't use Chidori against Lee since they were, how much he hated to say this, friends… Or at least friendly with one another.

Okay… He could tolerate Lee. He was the only person besides Sakura that could destroy him in close range and he respected him for that. But he swore if he saw one more damn sunset he was going to shove Chidori down his throat!

"So… Who do you think is going to win this fight?" Sakura spoke with a torn expression for she wanted both to really win, Sasuke for he was her team mate and Lee because he had grown on her since she was reunited with Gai.

"Tough to say. Sasuke might be forced to use it and if he does he will win but… Unfortunately if he uses it in this fight he'll be a sitting duck against Raiu. I hate to say this but Lee looks to have the upper hand. Kerlya wasn't even able to wear him down." Naruto solemnly commented for going against his own student.

Seeing that Gai had joined them during the break, the taijutsu specialist frowned at Naruto for going against his own student. He knew why obviously but that still didn't feel right to him. "While I believe in Lee you do not give Sasuke enough credit. This fight will be close."

"Sasuke will win." Yugito hummed before pulling out her tourney bracket, making both Naruto and Gai twitch at her. "I never lose a bet and I have money on Sasuke here so he will win."

Hiding her bracket from Naruto, for he wanted to see said perfect bracket and make sure she wasn't cheating somehow, Yugito smiled and pecked him lightly on the lips. "Just have faith like Gai says…"

Raising his eyebrow, Naruto shrugged as he leaned back against the wall. "We shall see. The fight is about to start."

Waiting for the signal from the Third, Kakashi nodded when the Hokage gave him the go ahead. "Everyone get to your seats! The second round will begin! Uchiha Sasuke versus Rock Lee. Commence!"

Sasuke knew he had the advantage immediately due to being able to walk on water and unlike Kerlya he could take advantage of it. He was much faster and while he knew Lee was faster then he… The water somewhat balanced the scale a little.

The only problem was that Lee was going to be a foot below him in each series of blows and that did not bode well. While he had the high ground… He could accidentally take a shot to the crotch and that would be a painful experience he did not want to happen.

But before he could reach Lee, the green suited gennin had a surprise waiting for him. Lee jumped up… And landed on the water. Taking a quick look at his feet, Sasuke immediately realized why he was floating. It was quite simple but effective.

He had two small flotation devices stuck beneath his feet and activate by seals to keep his weight from pushing them under. Sure Lee couldn't have been the one to make those seals due to the fact they needed chakra but still. It was pretty ingenious on Lee's part to get some help so he could fight on the water.

Deciding not to charge, Sasuke stood and waited for Lee to make the first move. He knew Lee wouldn't hesitate and come after him and the green beast did not disappoint him. Lee burst towards him with an unholy amount of speed that took Sasuke by surprise. Sure he knew Lee was fast but…

DAMN!

Diving into the shallow water to avoid being pummeled, Sasuke jumped out behind and locked his arms from behind. Fighting Lee in a striking contest would end up with him taking a brutal beating. But in a close range grappling contest… He could win. Lee's style was focused entirely around striking. His… Was not.

Lee was surprised by this tactic. He was used to everyone trying to fight a straight forward contest in hand-to-hand but Sasuke… He slipped behind him and now was successfully restraining… For now. He would break free of the lock Sasuke had on his torso but he had to keep his balance on the water as Sasuke was trying to push him to the ground.

With a grunt Lee lunged his body forward and flipped Sasuke over his back. Sasuke's grip loosened and he fell in front of him. Despite Sasuke still having a grip on his head, not wanting to let go and allow his speed to turn into a factor, Lee pounced on top of Sasuke only to take a knee to the top of his head.

This was a bad situation for Sasuke. Being in front of Lee was not the position he needed to be. His only chance was to lock out one of Lee's legs and force the beast to submit. The only problem was he wasn't sure if that would stop him thanks to the fact that Lee normally wore weights on his legs…

And today he did not. That tactic was now nullified.

Great… He couldn't strike with Lee, he couldn't grapple with him and he couldn't submit him. No matter which direction this went Sasuke was going to lose in hand-to-hand.

Then a thought struck him. From the spars he heard from Itachi when he faced Gai, Gai always kept ear buds to block out sound and did not make eye contact with him to avoid being caught in a genjutsu. Lee most certainly was not doing either of those…

Sasuke smirked. Genjutsu it was.

Lee had to admit he wanted to learn a little about wrestling and grappling after this was over. He had always figured that striking was the most important factor in taijutsu but with his struggle against Sasuke he knew otherwise now. Sure the water did not help as he could not mount Sasuke and beat him, a fact Sasuke was using to his advantage, but the Uchiha refused to let Lee get far enough away to push this fight in the direction he wanted it to go.

Finally he managed to break away from Sasuke and put some distance between them. However he noted that Sasuke's eyes strangely turned red for a moment when his eyes glanced past them before turning back to normal. Now Lee knew about the Sharingan but why would he only activate it for such a short period of time?

Seeing Sasuke set up in a more combat worthy stance, Lee grinned. Now this was more how he liked it. Up close and personal.

Charging towards the Uchiha, Lee easily covered more ground and struck first. Sasuke managed to duck underneath it and throw a low jab to his sternum. Lee easily side stepped the blow and turned for a round house kick and seemingly missed. However there were those that see he did not.

"LEE! HE'S PUT YOU IN GENJUTSU!" Neji yelled out to his friend hoping that somehow that Lee might be able to see through it.

Illusions were the one thing Lee could not stop once they festered within his body. He hated that he had practically no way to defend himself once a genjutsu took over. There were ways to prevent it from ever being put under one but he apparently fell for one of the conditions.

He didn't hear anything odd so he doubted that it was an illusion based off of sound. It could be a genjutsu he had cast on him during their grappling session but he seriously doubted that. The concentration it must have taken for Sasuke to keep him mounting and punching him into submission was far too great to cast one.

Smell and taste rarely ever were used outside to manipulate someone in a meeting or something around that; Lee didn't pay much attention to those as he probably would never have to deal with them. So that left one… Sight.

At that moment Lee remembered Sasuke's eyes turning red for a brief second and he cursed. Their eyes met and he was able to use a genjutsu at that very moment. It seemed Sasuke wanted to win this and would do whatever he had to… And so would he.

"First Gate, Initial Gate Open!"

Those words sent chills down Sasuke's back he watched an aura began to coat Lee. Oh he knew about the eight gates and the one thing that could screw him over more than anything else at this exact moment was that Lee could open the gates. It just happened Lee wasn't finished yet.

"Second Gate, Gate of Rest Open!"

This was the worst case scenario for Sasuke. With two gates open this would be very bad it Lee hit him. He was sure his illusion could not withstand the amount of chakra that was pouring from Lee's body, something that must only happen when he opened the gates.

Ready for anything, Sasuke slid into a guarded stance when Lee dashed towards him and showed no side effects of the genjutsu. About to dash backwards to keep Lee from catching him, his eyes went wide as Lee started to encircle him and keep him within his range.

Looking side to side trying to keep up with Lee, which was difficult without his Sharingan active, Sasuke could not dodge the next attack. Lee was before him and his foot smashed into his into his chin and sent her airborne. Gritting in pain from the blow, he looked down to see what he would do next when a cold sweat enveloped him.

Lee was directly behind him.

Ready to slam his elbow back into his gut, his eyes went wide. The bandages Lee used to wrap his arms from his elbow to his palm began to wrap around him, restricting his body's movements. He tried his best but he was unable to find his way out of this blow once the Lee began the spin the two and head downward.

A resounding crack was heard when contact was made and a large cloud of dust covered over half of the arena. The water slowly began to flow to where the two crashed leading some to expect a massive crater had been formed in the center of the arena.

When the dust settled there was now a pool of water where the impact crater had formed and Lee was standing just outside the pool looking at a floating Sasuke in the water. He made no movements at all, no signs of life. A small amount blood poured from the Uchiha's lips and finally his body began to sink in the worry.

Lee's eyes widened at this turn of events. He had used the Front Lotus only to wound and defeat Sasuke, not to kill him! He would never forgive himself if he…

Feeling a hand on his shoulders, he turned back only to see red eyes.

Catching the now limp Lee, the Sasuke in the water turned into a plume of smoke. "Shit… I was lucky I used that clone earlier in the match. I couldn't have taken the full blow of that."

"Uchiha Sasuke is the winner!"

Hearing his name called, Sasuke sighed in relief and with the lightest amount of chakra he tapped Lee's forehead. The boy shot awake and looked horrified when he saw Sasuke before him. "Sorry Lee… I used a genjutsu to induce you into sleep. When you panicked over my dead clone it simply made its job easier."

Being put out by such a tactic, Lee felt a little angered. He knew his weakness and the fact that they were used against him by his own comrades… But seeing Sasuke hold out his hand the green beast only sighed and shook his hand. "Good fight… But next time I will win or I will do a thousand pushups on each of the Hokage's heads!"

Clearing the ringing out of his ears, Sasuke could only nod but felt a little bad about that. Then again if he won he would be treated to a good show…

"Told you so." Yugito smirked while she watched Sasuke and Lee head up the stairs before turning to Naruto and Gai. She busted out laughing at Gai's expression and Naruto's semi-amused grin.

Sasuke had used one of the few ninjutsu techniques that Naruto had actually taught him to defeat Lee. It was often over looked due to its chakra price but the Shadow Clone was one of the best clone techniques there was with the only exception really being the lighting style version of the technique.

Of course he didn't tell Sasuke about that one. He was still frustrated about not having mastered the first damn lighting jutsu he showed him. "Well… Sasuke is in the finals and he didn't have to use it. That's good. It will mean he'll have a surprise up his sleeve for Raiu."

"I just pray Neji gets out of this alright. I might have riled Raiu a little by interfering." Naruto solemnly finished, keeping an eye on Raiu this entire time and he had seen the boy had not calmed.

For once Gai didn't rise up to the defense of his student for he knew what dangers Raiu presented. Instead he simply nodded. "If I must I will intervene. I will not let him hurt Neji no matter the reason."

No other word was spoken as all eyes were on Neji and Raiu heading to the arena floor.

Neji wasn't too confident after what he had seen against Shikamaru. He already was leery of the boy from what Sasuke had told him, then hearing how easily he and Aschen dismantled that gennin team from the rain… Then there was that last fact. He was a vessel of one of the nine bijuu.

That alone was enough to be frightened of him heading into battle. He could only count a few Konoha ninja on his fingers that could stand up to the wrath of an angry jinchuuriki using their demon's power to the fullest. The Third Hokage, Uchiha Itachi, Jiraiya of the Sannin (possibly Tsunade) and Namikaze-Mitarashi Naruto.

That was rather elite company and he didn't even want to compare himself to those ninja. He wasn't even strong enough to say he was on Gai's level much less THEIR level.

So to say he was a little nervous was an understatement. His entire body was screaming at him to run!

And this was the exact fear fact Raiu was expecting his display of his bijuu's power would lead to, at least those gennin with a good source of knowledge. And it just so happened his opponent was very knowledgeable.

He loved it when he could use an opponent's own knowledge to his advantage.

Sure after using Nanabi's power he was in a cool down phase but that was almost over now. He had excellent control of the beast as that was the other thing he was heavily drilled on when the beast was sealed into his belly. The only one that they had knowledge of that had better control of their demon was Kirabi of the Cloud, holder of Hachibi.

Raiu had nothing against that man nor did he want to test his control of bijuu against him when he obviously possessed the stronger demon. The only one he wanted was Naruto and thankfully it was known that he had practically no control of the nine tailed fox. There was just one little problem about that though…

Naruto could reverse summon their positions and Kyuubi would be on the outside world. A time and space jutsu at its finest and because of it Naruto was immediately put into every bingo book as a double S-rank shinobi. For not only could he use the legendary flash but summoning Kyuubi in his place and now from his insane sensory skills that seemed to outmatch the Red Haired Priestess…

Shaking his head, letting his own knowledge get to his head, Raiu calmly faced the branch house prodigy who despite his fears was preparing for battle. How commendable. Even if he couldn't overcome it he would not back down.

A trait that all Konoha shinobi seemed to share. A trait that was said to make them stronger.

He would put that to the test.

Preparing for a close range battle, Raiu slid into a peculiar stance that very few could recognize. However one of the few was the Third Hokage. Said Hokage narrowed his eyes at this development for there was only one person he had ever seen with a stance like that.

It was the stance of the former vessel of the Waterfall… The fighting stance of Lady Fuu.

Seeing that no one else recognized it, Kakashi initiated the fight after carefully analyzing the two. "Both fighters are ready… Let's get it on!"

Activating his Byukugan, Neji winced at the sight of Raiu's chakra coils. He hadn't noticed before but they were far thicker then what they should have been for someone their age. They were comparable to the copy ninja near them and he knew that man had a lot of chakra.

This wasn't going to be fun.

Raiu was impatient and he wasn't going to sit idle and let the Hyuuga analyze him. He would allow him to have no advantages and he struck first with a lighting fast haymaker that struck home.

Reeling from the blow, having barely seen it, Neji began to duck and weave between Raiu's quick strikes. His flurry was fast, almost as quick as Tenten was with her weapons. And the strength put behind each felt like a blow Lee would deliver. These were not amusing combinations for Tenten had faster hands then anyone he had sparred against.

But he wasn't going to stay on the defensive. He saw an opening, a crack in the armor if you would, in Raiu's assault. He was fast that he put up almost no guard for he wasn't suspecting a counter attack. That would be his undoing. Neji was use to sparring with Lee and taking punishment.

Raiu almost gasped once Neji's fingertips made contact with his solar plexus. It would have been a crippling shot if it wasn't for the light pulse Nanabi flowed into his body. So the blow made little difference and allowed him to drive a painful upper cut into Neji's jaw.

Sliding back, having been sent reeling from the blow, Neji knew what he had seen and it had not pleased him at all. The damn demon's chakra was still in his system so it either meant he had recovered from his cool down or… Its chakra was constantly flowing in his coils. Neither was good in his opinion.

So attacking his nerves was going to get him nowhere. And if the demon was supplying him with chakra that meant shutting off his chakra points wasn't going to help him either. However… It would help Sasuke.

At this moment Neji wasn't fighting for himself. He knew he was beaten. He knew soon as he stepped foot in the arena with Raiu. But if he could cripple him just enough… Maybe it would even the odds for the Uchiha.

Focusing his chakra around him, he spun to repel Raiu from his presence and to give him enough time to prepare for his attack. With his Byukugan he never lost sight of the seven tails vessel and when he stopped the whirl he faced him. "Let's see you stop this! You're in my field of divination!"

Striking out at Raiu, Neji flurried through his blows. He passed sixteen and was quickly reaching thirty-two when it happened. Out of nowhere the Rock gennin simply vanished. He had disappeared from his sight completely… And then he saw nothing at all.

Watching Neji fall to the ground below after delivering a chop to the back of his neck, Raiu growled out. This wasn't supposed to be how this was to play out. He wasn't suppose to bend time and space until the final match to overwhelm his opponent and show off his superior skill to gather more attention to his home land and less from the ever growing demand of missions to Konoha.

But yet against both the Nara and the Hyuuga he was forced to do so. If this was any indicator of their strength Konoha truly deserve its mantle of strongest of the shinobi villages. And he hadn't even faced who was considered the strongest of the gennin, Uchiha Sasuke.

This was going to be interesting. And for once he couldn't give a damn about his village. These ninja were testing his capacity and giving him something to compare against the Prince of Konoha. If he couldn't beat these three he didn't even deserve the right to ever face the blonde on the field of battle.

"Crap… I was hoping Neji would last longer." Sasuke groaned while Sakura tended to his cramping muscles. "I hope there will be an intermission for this fight. I need a few more minutes."

Luck seemed to be on Sasuke's side when Kakashi turned to Raiu and spoke. "If you need it you may take five minutes to rest. If not we'll start the final match."

"I don't. I'm ready for this to finish." Sasuke's parade came to a crashing halt when Raiu announced that he needed no extra time to prepare for the Uchiha.

Hanging his head, belittling himself for putting all his chips in on betting his enemy would take the break, Sasuke slowly stood up and thanked Sakura. "Sakura… Thanks for your help. But I'm still going to need a miracle to pull this one off… You wouldn't happen to have a human summoning contract would you?"

Chuckling lightly at Sasuke's attempted joke, despite knowing that he was somewhat hoping she would, Sakura shook her head. "I'm sorry Sasuke. All I can do is tend to your wounds and cheer you on. So get out there and win this fight. Win the promotion for me, Kerlya, sensei and everyone else that is rooting for you."

"Yeah… You better win." Kerlya growled at Sasuke, finally being let out of the medical room, before smiling softly. "I would at least like to claim that the champion was from our team."

A poof caught all three of their attention before they all twitched at Naruto's smiling form. "I thought I'd come by and give you some inspirational speech but it looks like you already have one. So…"

"Show them who you are… And show them why they should fear your name, Sasuke, and not our family's." Itachi stated, appearing out of the blue and leaning against the wall, with a proud grin on his face.

If there was one thing that could be said to motivate Sasuke more no one knew it. His goal had always been similar to Miko's. They both wanted to be out of the shadow of their eldest sibling and known for who they were. Only known was Miko earning her name and this was Sasuke's chance.

He headed down with a chip on his shoulder. He was going to prove it to the world that he was Uchiha Sasuke. He was someone to be feared and not because of what clan he belonged to but because of what he could do.

"There… That should do it. If there is anyone that can beat Raiu now… It is Sasuke." Itachi spoke with his prideful grin never ceasing. Just looking at how Sasuke stood in front of the Rock gennin told him one thing.

Sasuke didn't just believe he could win. He was going to win.

* * *

"Everything is in motion… We should head out now." Kisame stated, knowing the last battle of the chunin exam was about to commence. It would be easiest to penetrate the village's defenses as they would be at their weakest.

"No… This seems rather interesting." Kushina grinned, watching the battle about to unfold within her mind thanks to her sensory. "Besides this could bode well for us. If the Uchiha brat can weaken the seven tails we might be able to catch him underneath the Third Tsuchikage's nose for a consolation prize."

Kisame was slightly worried about not taking their chance and infiltrating the village now. Konoha was known for having strong jounin but you didn't just face one… You faced three at the very least. "But Pein hasn't given us the order to capture him yet. He wants the nine tails foremost…"

"Then he should have come here himself!" Kushina growled out, enraged at Kisame's insubordination, and with the slight glint in her eyes told Kisame to back off. "Even if Naruto is possessed by that demon he is still his father's child… My child. That boy will not fall to us if we do not have the most opportune situation."

"And when will that be?" Kisame frowned and raised his eyebrow at his partner. He did not like being order around. He was one of the strongest in the Akatsuki and while he knew he could not defeat the woman before him he knew he could make her feel pain like she never had felt before.

"Let me worry about that. It will show itself… Sooner or later. So for now we wait… We wait and enjoy what this land has to offer." Kushina finished and closed her eyes once more to watch the battle.

This was going to be interesting.

* * *

Everything was so silent. A pin drop could be heard for miles and a kunai could slice through the tension.

Uchiha Sasuke was currently staring down the one opponent in this exam he felt he couldn't beat. Yet with the encouragement of his friends in the stands, his family and his own team he felt he could do this. He felt like he could win.

And Raiu didn't like that at all. The Uchiha showed no fear of him. Not for being a demon vessel and able to control its power. Not for being able to bend time and space to his favor. Not for anything… The Uchiha was not afraid of him.

This would be a problem for with this confidence meant his skills would dramatically increase. He would have to show how hopeless this situation truly was to the Uchiha and break his will to fight.

Sasuke had his plan already set and was ready for the worst. If Raiu called upon the demon he knew the fight was over. He could not get away with luck and a cleverly concealed kunai and explosive tag to win if it came down to it. He had to win this fight before he called for the demon's aid.

Kakashi sensed both were ready and the crowd's anticipation for the final battle. He smirked at this. This would be good…

"Uchiha Sasuke… Raiu of the Rock… Are you ready?" Kakashi loudly announce, breaking the silence, and soon as he got the nod from the two he sliced his hands before him. "Then let the final battle of these Chunin Exams commence!"

There was no hesitation. Both Sasuke and Raiu sprinted towards the other, a kunai drawn in anticipation. And in classic style both caught the others wrist to keep the kunai from piercing into their flesh.

Neither moved from their spot, waiting for the other to make a move first and capitalize on it. However this was just what Sasuke wanted as his Sharingan blazed into life.

Raiu knew this was bad and he had to break this early stalemate or he would be caught in the Sharingan's famous hypnotism. He did not want to be mimicked by this gennin and give him more techniques to his arsenal. But this time he could bend space and time to get away. He would just take Sasuke with him…

Throwing up a knee to Sasuke's stomach, Sasuke countered with the exact move. Raiu already narrowed his eyes at this development. He was already under the hypnotism and it wouldn't be easy to break. It was unlike any other genjutsu he knew as the only way to break it was to slip the Sharingan's sight.

Getting tired of this, Raiu threw Sasuke's hand off but unfortunately Sasuke did not do the same and held him tight. This Raiu expected and a kunai shot from his sleeve and straight to Sasuke's face. The Uchiha ducked but he was forced to let go and allow him to flip away.

Knowing his chakra supply was limited Raiu knew what to attack. He may give up a few jutsu he knew to the Uchiha but once he drained the remainder of Sasuke's chakra this fight would be easy pickings.

Going through a series of hand seals, watching as Sasuke copied, Raiu brought his hands forward and a pocket of wind built in his palms before it burst forward. "Futon: Kaze no dangan!"

The two collided with equal force, leaving Raiu to smirk before going through another set of hand seals. The faster the Uchiha burned his chakra the better as he had a lot to spare and then had the bug's chakra to rely upon. "Futon: Harikēn no Shockwave!"

A massive gale, similar to the one he used against Shikamaru, tore from only Raiu's hands this time. While there wasn't much left to destroy, the gale certain finished the job. The already snap tree was completely uprooted and pierced into the wall. But the question was…

Where was the Uchiha?

That answer was revealed when a hand suddenly stuck out from the ground, grabbed his ankle and pulled him underground. His head was the only thing left as Sasuke burst out from where he now was with his hands in a tiger seal. "Katon: Gokakyu!"

The flames burst from his mouth and while Raiu knew he could easily withstand this blow it was what happened next that actually made his toes curl. "Futon: Daitoppa!"

Those two things did not bode well. Almost every ninja knew that wind jutsu fed fire and greatly increased their intensity and power. The great thing was that most ninja could not master both fire and wind jutsu this early in their life time. The Uchiha had a great benefit however…

He had the Sharingan. He could copy such techniques and use them with deadly efficiency.

Raiu knew that he had no time to dodge this once more he was forced to use to transport himself again. But this time he wouldn't just use it for defense. He was going to go offensive this time.

Sasuke knew the flames did not engulf his opponent unlike the majority of the crowd. The civilians did not see that he used his chakra in such a way that he had literally disappeared from the current plane of existence. And unfortunately he could…

And that was frightening as the only other people he knew that he could do such a thing was Itachi and Naruto.

Closing his eyes, acting on pure instinct, Sasuke rolled forward, turned as quick as he physically could and threw a handful of shuriken. The shock on Raiu's face was obvious as his kunai hit nothing but air and Sasuke's shuriken stuck into his rib cage.

Growling, Raiu ripped each out. He didn't care about the blood pouring from the wounds or the fact that many gasped in awe at how he did such a thing without wincing. "I see the flash being your sensei has taught you how to defend against attacks that bend time and space."

"Nope." Sasuke grinned at Raiu nearly shocking the vessel in the process with his answer. "I do not know of any way to fend against such attacks… So I let my instinct guide me and it turned out to be right. Most ninja will try to attack someone from behind when they get the chance. That is our way of life after all."

Raiu closed his eyes and shook his head before a smirk graced his lips. "Fair enough… You're the first person that I actually can say this to but… I like you Uchiha. Now let's give everyone here what they came to see! An epic final battle!"

Sasuke knew the time was getting close. He had nearly drained all of his chakra and only a little remained. And with Raiu coming at him once more there would be no time to pull the one from his pouch. Good thing he though ahead and put it underneath his tongue.

Slicing at the Uchiha with his kunai, he tossed it at his abdomen when he dodged before he went through a series of hand seals and grinned. "Raiton: Sandāfurasshu!"

A lighting jutsu was the last thing Sasuke had expected from his opponent. From his name he should have seen it coming as Rai was the first three letters… But he digressed. This attack was going to hit him much faster than any he could have prepared for. This was going to hurt.

The electric waved washed over him, causing havoc on his nervous system and nearly frying it in the process. But he stood tough and used his chakra to coat his body and flowed the electricity through him as he did when Naruto activated his lighting affinity.

He would thank the bastard for that harsh lesson.

Somewhat surprised that his opponent was able to withstand the burst of lighting, Raiu had to grin. He knew the Uchiha had an affinity for lighting from what it seemed and it looked as if he used it to take such damage and survive. But something was wrong… Why was he smirking and why was he going through the same hand seals?

He shouldn't have that much chakra left!

"Raiton: Sandāfurasshu!" Sasuke screamed out before the lighting built before him and spread out like a wave towards Raiu.

Raiu did not let his shock hinder him and countered with yet another Thunder Flash to counter act the one Sasuke had used. Narrowing his eyes at this, the rock gennin knew something was up and then it hit him what could give him such energy so quickly.

A soldier pill. He had hid it in his mouth. The tricky Uchiha. He was a worthy foe. Not his equal but worthy nonetheless.

Going through his options, not wanting to hand the Uchiha any more techniques for he could use them against him now, hand-to-hand seemed to be the way to go. But he would have to be careful for those with lighting affinities could bring their techniques into a fight.

E of the Kumo resistance was proof of that.

So he would just have to bring his strongest affinity into this fight. So drawing two kunais, he extended their own reach with his nature chakra.

Sasuke saw this and grinned. So he wanted to play like that did he? He could play that game to. So letting his nature chakra into a handful of shuriken, he tossed them towards Raiu and drew two kunai.

Avoiding them, knowing that those shuriken would rip through him if they made contact, the two exchange a fury of slashes. Most were blocked but a handful of slices made it through on both sides. His would tear into the Uchiha and cause deeper wounds while Sasuke's seared his flesh and felt more damaging as the electricity played havoc with his pain receptors.

Neither backed down. They kept wildly slashing at the other, letting more and more blows come through to earn another slash on their opponent. They only protected their vitals and sooner or later someone would leave an opening. But as time passed it seemed both were well guarded and that this was getting nowhere fast.

Sasuke knew this benefited Raiu thanks to his bijuu and if there was any way he was going to win this he had to hit a vital spot. Unfortunately it seemed that his opponent knew this as well and was letting him get a few more blows in for the sake of protecting his most vital spots.

Deciding enough was enough Sasuke kicked off the ground and flipped back. He kept Raiu from pursuing with a kunai stuck into the ground with an explosive tag. Once it went off, Raiu had to jump back to avoid getting caught in the blast radius.

This was all the time Sasuke needed. He went through the seals and lighting crackled in his palm. If he couldn't break his defense to hit a vital he would pierce through it.

Having seen this technique twice, Raiu was ready for it. That did not mean he knew how to stop it. From what he could see there was nothing that could stop the lighting once it hit. The only way was to counter it with another lighting attack, something he doubted as he heard of a legend of the copy cat ninja cutting a bolt of lightning with this technique.

So he would have to preemptively stop this attack and he knew how.

The one thing Sasuke did not want to happen did indeed occur. Raiu bent time and space just as he started his way towards him. The rock ninja waited and timed it perfectly. Now Sasuke had hundreds of options to where he would come from but he had to make the right one otherwise this would be it.

He first thought about thrusting it dead ahead but that would be a dangerous spot to pick and he doubted Raiu would risk such injury. The back came to mind but Sasuke had already proven with his instinct that he would protect the rear. So maybe the side or possibly above him?

Growling at this, he forsook all logic and threw it in front of him as his instinct told him to do.

The amount of luck Sasuke had was nearly amazing.

Raiu gripped the Uchiha's wrist soon as he returned to the plane of existence to keep the attack from destroying his chest. The damn Uchiha's instincts were top notch and neutralizing his greatest technique. This was going to cause him a lot of problem down the road for his jutsu was the reason they were brought here instead of waiting another six months and showing off at the exams in their own village!

Everything was riding on this attack and despite not being able to budge Raiu's grip, Sasuke couldn't help but like the situation they were in. Now he hadn't tried this before but Chidori was a lot alike Lighting Spree Naruto had taught him. So he wondered if he couldn't do the same…

A bolt of the Chidori ripped through Raiu's chest, tearing a hole straight through to the other side. His eyes widened at the sudden shock of the blow he let go of Sasuke's wrist.

Blood gushed from the wound and not even Raiu's hand could repress the torrent that was coming out. The bolt hadn't hit his heart but it was close… It clipped the aorta.

Falling to his knees, losing conscious quickly, Raiu threw his hand before him to stop his fall. Breathing heavily, trying to blink the darkness overwhelming his vision, his entire body trembled from his will to stay standing.

'Raiu! Hold on!' He could hear Fuu's voice trying to comfort him, doing anything she could do to keep Raiu awake. 'Nanabi do something! He's going to die!'

'Don't give me that crap! If he dies you know what will happen! You will just be sealed back into someone else here in Konoha! You aren't escaping!' Fuu roared in his mind, screaming at the beast to save their host.

Darkness began to overwhelm him and he slowly began to fall to the ground below when a dark voice filled his mind with a deafening hiss. "**FINE! I WILL SAVE YOUR PATHETIC LIFE YOU WORTHLESS MORTAL!**"

Green charka erupted around Raiu, keeping his body just inches from collapsing onto the ground. It cratered the very ground and held his body firm before it started to slowly lift him, taking shape of the beetle demon within. One wing sprouted behind his back… Then two and another was on the way.

When finally stood at his full height, Raiu was no longer seen as violent eruption of chakra encircled his being and knocked Sasuke back. But once that charka faded, the green chakra formed a single humanoid beetle with four wings fluttering where Raiu had previous been standing.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he did not predict any of this. He had not expected his blow to be so serious and the lighting to just be absorbed by his body just like he had seen many lighting jutsu to time after time. But the bolt of the Chidori electricity did not… It pierced straight through.

And now he was standing before Raiu bonded with four tails of the demon's chakra.

* * *

"I don't need to have your sensory range to feel that." Kisame whistled at the feeling of the seven tail vessel's release. "Whatever happened must have either pissed him of or he was in great danger."

"That Uchiha is something special." Kushina commented having seen the fight despite the distance there was from them to the arena. "I can see why Orochimaru is interested in him. While both his brother and his sister were stronger than he is at this point in their lives… But I don't sense a wall with their youngest sibling. It seems he may have unlimited potential."

Kisame tilted his head at Kushina for a moment before nodding a little. "That makes sense. The snake is cunning and knows exactly what he needs and he'll do anything to get it. Maybe we should set up a trap and bring the kid with us? Orochimaru would try something if he wants the kid so desperately."

"Possibly but this is Orochimaru we are talking about… While his strength is no match for our own his tactics are better than anyone else. That is why he has managed to elude us so far." Kushina stated, remembering how he managed to escape right under her watch… And take her daughter from her.

Opening her eyes and standing, Kushina's red eyes narrowed before a wicked idea came to her. Maybe she couldn't but… "Kisame… We will sneak in now. This is the opportunity we need and will give us the best cover for a few days."

Grinning, Kisame fingered the handle of Samehada in anticipation. Oh this was going to be fun.

* * *

"Shit!" The Tsuchikage cursed under his breath seeing Raiu's transformation and knew this would be difficult to stop. "I hate to burden you with this Lord Hokage but I'm going to need some help restraining him now. The way he is currently he can't be stopped until all of the demon's chakra is repressed."

Seeing the leader of the Rock ready himself for battle, Hizuren sighed and stood up for this was his home and he would defend it if he must. "You may be seated Lord Tsuchikage. We have a special unit to deal with situations like this. You could say that we specialize in defending our village from demonic attacks."

Narrowing his eyes for a moment before remembering hearing how easily Gaara was taken care of when he nearly lost control in the prelims, the Tsuchikage simply nodded. "I will accept your help but this is my responsibility. How quickly can you build the team?"

"They're already here." The Hokage smirked before turning to Yamato and nodding his head. "Naruto and Itachi's unit will corral him. During that time do what you must to drain the demonic chakra from Raiu."

"Yes Lord Hokage." Yamato dispersed into a swirl of leafs and went straight to the arena floor.

Sasuke suddenly found that he was no longer in the arena and was back in the contestants' booth with many of the other gennin. He absently wondered what happened at first when he noted that Kakashi was there and barking orders. "I want all of you to evacuate the citizens from this place immediately! That is your number one priority! The lords will be taken care of by their samurai and any available jounin so don't worry about them!"

"Get them out of here quickly for this could get messy and fast! An out of control vessel can cause massive damage in a hurry so move!" Kakashi finished barking, revealing his single Sharingan eye to get his point across, before diving down to help his unit.

No one argued soon as they saw who was surrounding the raging Raiu. They all quickly rushed to the stands to help in evacuation that was already in place. They simply had to pacify the situation.

On the arena floor, the Nanabi vessel screeched and bent over, preparing to lunge towards the two standing in its way. Itachi and Naruto were ready and jumped to the side just as the four tailed Raiu crushed the ground were they had been standing before.

"Sen'eijashu!"

Snakes shot out from Anko's outstretched arm and wrapped around the demonic Raiu, momentarily containing him. Yugito didn't give him a chance to break free and dropped an ax kick from below before driving her forearm into his throat and pushed him onto his back.

"Katon: Karyu Endan!" Both Kakashi and Itachi cried before the breathed out two monstrous dragons from their mouths. Yugito quickly leapt away before the dragons' engulfed her along with Raiu.

The screeches of the demonic Raiu filled the air while the flames consumed his visible form in the fire. Each knew this wouldn't be enough and they were right when a powerful stream of chakra flared out towards Itachi and Kakashi. Both easily avoided the blow and Naruto finished his seals.

"Doton: Yomi Numa!" Naruto slapped his palms onto the ground and the earth turned into a muddy wasteland that everyone had to jump away from.

Raiu wasn't so fortunate and was caught by the engulfing swamp and was quickly being pulled under. Screeching out, chakra began to build around him in a furious display the bug's chakra disintegrated all the mud around it before taking flight.

Once more snakes flew towards the demonic vessel but this time he was ready. Slicing through them with his outstretched claws, he began charging for another blast when something grabbed his ankle. Looking down to see Yugito, there was no time to react before he was tossed to the ground. The only thing it could do was fire the blast at the airborne blonde.

But even that was meaningless for Naruto appeared before her in a flash of light and with his hands outstretched revealing the seals tattooed on the palms. Focusing his chakra he seemingly absorbed the blast before in flash of green light the demon's own blast struck it.

Screeching out, the bug took out straight at them and his claws extended straight for them. But his claw did not reach them when both disappeared in a golden flicker. Annoyed that he was unable to hit anything, the bug turned back to the ground and bellowed.

A power shockwave filled the arena to keep them still before the bug dove down towards them, focusing all of its chakra into the wings to increase its speed. But the increase of speed meant nothing when Itachi appeared above him out of a dark void and stomped his foot onto the bug's spine, crashing it into the ground.

Picking itself up, hissing at this turn of events, the four tailed Raiu narrowed his multiple red eyes before each widened. Four wooden dragons erupted from around him, wrapping their forms against his body and holding him still.

Everyone quickly added their own restraining technique to keep it from breaking free. With his feet sinking into mud, multiple dogs, biting down onto his joints, a whip of fire and snakes wrapping around his body and the very air itself bending around him the chakra finally began to leave his system.

Seeing Raiu return to normal and passing out in the hold, the wound of his heart no longer visible, the restraints were dismissed and the wooden dragons crumbled into the dirt.

Naruto caught the incapacitated vessel and sighed. Turning to the Kages and their guards, who had appeared before them, he handed Raiu to the Iwa ninja. "His wounds should be fine. Nanabi took care of them and he'll be out for a day or two from exhausting so much of his and the demon's chakra."

Simply nodding at Naruto, the Tsuchikage turned to the Hokage before bowing lightly. "I'm sorry for this turn of events. I will take my leave once he recovers. Thank you for your hospitality and your help cleaning up this mess for me, lord Hokage."

Absently wondering what the elderly Tsuchikage was planning, not trusting him in the slightest, the Hokage simply bowed in return as a sign of respect. "Think nothing of it. It happened within my village and it is mine and my shinobi's responsibility to handle it and keep the civilian populace from being harmed."

Keeping his focus on Raiu and the Third Tsuchikage as they turned and headed to leave, Naruto inch closer to the Hokage before whispering. "I think this was intentional… Iwa is up to something."

"We'll talk about this later." Hizuren commented for he had an empty void in his gut saying the same, he sighed and turned to the Kazekage. "Well this was most unfortunate… I believe we have some things to discuss so shall we head to my office to take care of them?"

"Yes… That would be most appropriate." The Kazekage stated watching the retreating back of the Tsuchikage too, not feeling comfortable with this at all. He wouldn't act on his gut suspicion, however, didn't mean he would lay back and let whatever Iwa was planning go unchecked.

He may not like Konoha either but the leaf was a good friend to have and one he did not want to get on the bad side of. If what he had seen from the five that subdued the demonic possessed kid was an indication of their strength…

He was afraid.

* * *

"Damn…" Yugito groaned sitting in her bed with her hands at her temples, hoping her headache would go away. "Cat if you can do anything about this migraine…"

Not getting a response, the eighteen year old blonde sighed before falling back onto her bed. The day had been hectic after the Nanabi went berserk. Nothing bad happened but still… The amount of panic that spread through the village was enough to deal with.

Calming people was something she just couldn't do.

Hearing the door open, she raised her head to see Naruto enter the room. Forcing a smile for it seemed he wasn't doing too well either, probably because of the meeting with the Hokage and the Kazekage. "Do I want to know how the meeting went or is it something I rather not know about?"

"Bad and yes, you don't want to know." Naruto groaned as for one of those few times he felt truly tired. "But you need to know… You know the Sound has been exercising its power in the Rice and has attempted to stretch its borders… Well we've had enough. We will be declaring war on them in one year's time with this as a guise."

Yugito perked hearing this but her eyes narrowed. War was the last thing that this village needed at a time like this. They had just recovered from their depression and now they were about to march into battle against another nation, a much smaller one but nonetheless…

"The real reason we are going after them is because Orochimaru is their leader and that he has secretly started a war with us already. He is amassing an army of both missing ninja and those from his newly created village. …However we cannot attack right at this moment due to the fact of Iwa's presence here in the exams." Naruto rubbed his temple and wondered how the old man could deal with this stuff on a constant basis.

"Suna will support our efforts and send troops to aid us. In return for their aid we will send more of our higher ranked missions to them during the duration of the war since most of our top shinobi will be out in the field. We will lose some money because of this but the Hokage accepted the terms for this should be quick… If other nations do not get involved." Naruto finished with an annoyed growl.

"Because we do not know what Iwa is up to we have to take this cautiously and build up a surplus during this next year while keeping a force here at home in case they get the idea to ally with the Sound and attack our home front." Naruto finished before almost collapsing on his bed.

Frowning at what she heard, ignoring the increasing ache in her temples, Yugito pushed herself onto her feet before plopping back down next to Naruto. "I know this is bad but… This is what is necessary. Orochimaru is a threat to the village and if he's gathering an army in a bordering country we can't let that be ignored."

"The job of the Hokage is a difficult one and sometimes you must make decisions that will affect the lives of your populace. I know this is draining for you but think of the old man. He has done this for many years and you know how this must eat at him knowing many of his shinobi will die from this decision." Yugito tried to explain despite feeling much the same.

Naruto only sighed. She didn't even know the half of it… "Yugito… He will be stepping down before this war begins. He will step down in six months time to act as a second Hokage to help ease the burden of the job to the next Hokage."

Yugito's eyes widen at this revelation. The Third was standing down? Then who in the world would be taking his place as the Hokage. There were only a handful of people and unfortunately the few that could did not want the job. "Naruto… Who will it be?"

"I don't know…" Naruto dragged his hand across his face, slightly grateful for Yugito's touch but even that could not calm his raging mind. "But I do know if I don't find Tsunade in six months that there will only be two candidates…"

"Either Itachi or I will become the Godaime if she will not."

* * *

**A/N**: Okay there is the chapter… After going through it I decided to keep this chapter whole instead of cutting it into two parts as I first did. So I hope you enjoy this monstrosity.

Anyways, as you can note, I'm focusing a little on Kushina. I'm trying to focus onto her character as she will be playing a critical role soon and truthfully she already has been doing so for a while. I'm doing my best to make it seem like she isn't evil but if she comes off that way I'm sorry. Trying to make it seem like she's doing this as it what's best for Naruto is rather difficult.

And for those that noted Raiu's character seems a little different then what I first introduced him, yeah it is. He's a different person in battle and I'm showing that now. When he is not in battle he's a rather caring individual but once a fight has started he shifts into battle mode and is almost an opposite of what he acts like.

Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter and another will be out soon, I hope. I'm kind of on a role right now. If you have any questions or have a comment I'll get back to you. Also since today is my birthday, the twenty-fourth, I would appreciate a little more reviews if you don't mind.

Here's to being a year older yet still feeling like I'm eighteen, PEACE OUT!


	21. An Unwelcomed Reunion

"I thought this was chunin promotion. Why am I here?" Sakura wondered out loud, somewhat disturbed walking along Sasuke and Kerlya as they headed to the tower.

"Maybe team realignment. We could also have a mission already. You never know." Sasuke responded for he didn't think it was such a big deal to have those that weren't being promoted at the ceremony, if one could say it was such. He heard from his brother and sister that they simply handed you the vest and said 'Good job, you're now a chunin'.

But once they made to the room it was obvious that only the jounin instructors and those that were being promoted to chunin were there. So one again Sakura began to wonder why she was here. She didn't even make the finals.

Sensing this, the elderly Hokage beamed at the girl and shook his head. "You can relax Sakura; I'll get to why I called you and Kerlya here in a moment. Now... Sasuke, Shikamaru and Neji... Do you understand why you are here?"

Kerlya looked a little put out as she heard the three of them mention and not her, she was silenced by a simple glance from Naruto and the Third continued. "Each of you performed valiantly and showed the qualities that are necessary to advance in rank. Simple strength and application of knowledge is not enough."

"Each of you came in with a premeditative plan for each possible fight and executed it, some more flawless then others. But it is because of your will to face overwhelming odds despite knowing that you might not succeed was the last thing that we measured and each of you performed admirably. For this you are granted the rank chunin." Hizuren spoke with slight pride at the three standing before him.

Naruto, Gai and Asuma stood in front of their respective student with a vest in hand before handing it over to the former gennin. "A great responsibility has been entrusted onto each of you. This vest signifies that you are ready for these responsibilities and will not shy away from them as you are now adults in the eye of the law."

"So... Chunin of Konoha, may you live up to these high expectations we bestow upon you and continue to strive for excellence. You are dismissed. ...Sasuke if you can stay a moment with your team." Sarutobi finished his little speech to the now chunin before motioning the others to leave.

Sliding his vest on as the others left, Sasuke stood next to Sakura and Kerlya and kept his smile in check. Or at least tried to. He was having a very difficult time doing so. He knew how difficult it was to be promoted to chunin on the first attempt and he was proud of his accomplishment.

"I have a mission for you three... You will be joining your sensei on this one because this could be escalated into a much higher rank thanks to what this mission details." The elderly Hokage spoke with slight warning in his voice aimed at Naruto to keep them out of this said trouble.

Naruto only nodded before taking over for the old man. "You will be joining me to find and convince Tsunade to return to the village. This will be a B-rank mission simply because she is known to very volatile and cause massive damage... Since Jiraiya is not coming with us I think we will be a lot safer and she will be rather calm."

"So get your things packed for a rather long mission. This may only take a week but it could very well take months just to find her. When she doesn't want to be found she is very difficult to track." Naruto commented, believing the toad sannin's words for if that man could keep track of her position at times she would be difficult to find for anyone else.

"Let your family know that you're leaving and meet me at the northern gate at two." Naruto finished before sighing. He really wanted to leave with Jiraiya on this but because the white haired sannin disappeared off the face of the earth again. For research or actually duty no one knew... Or seemed to care.

The next Icha Icha preorder had been sold out... And that was a little difficult to believe.

Shaking his head of that and waiting till his unit left the office, Naruto sighed while his eyes gazed over at the Hokage monument. "Do you think she will come willingly? After what you briefed me on it seems doubtful."

"And it is... But if there is anyone that can convince her it is you." Hizuren smiled lightly, attempting to give Naruto a boost of confidence. "But I am warning you... Convincing her to come back here and to take the mantle of Hokage are two very different things. You may convince her to return but don't give your hopes up on her becoming the Godaime."

"You know Itachi and I do not want the title... We're both content with where we are at now. We aren't suited for the job." Naruto sighed and looked out at this village. "Besides... After what this village has done to me... I rather not take a vow to protect every single person within these walls."

Closing his eyes, understanding why Naruto and Itachi at that were so hesitant, the Third opened his eyes and stood besides Naruto, overlooking his village with a loving smile. "Naruto... Tell me, what is your nindo about?"

Naruto's eyes shot up at this before he narrowed his eyes for a moment and shook his head. He knew what the Hokage was attempting to do. "You know it better than most, Lord Hokage. To keep those I care for safe and to never lose control again."

Shaking his head, staring at his village a moment longer, Hizuren turned his smile to the blonde. "No... What is your true nindo? The one that you told Jiraiya all those years ago... The one you truly live by."

Smiling at the young jounin freezing before him, the Third softly chuckled. He suspected that he may have forgotten. Sure the one he stated was a mirror of his original... But it was not the same. "Just think about that for me during this trip... And tell me what you think about it when you return."

Numbly nodding, Naruto bowed lightly before slowly exiting the office. It had been so long since he had told Jiraiya that but he had not forgotten it. ...He simply pushed it to the side. It was something that he said because of the moment... So he thought. But those words he said stuck in his mind ever since and he could not just forget them.

Sighing for this was going to be a long, and possibly life-changing, trip he brushed his hand through his hair. He better tell Yugito he was heading out for an indiscriminate amount of time.

And why did he suddenly get the feeling that this would not be easy?

* * *

"So where are we going to start?" Kerlya asked sitting on top of a wooden sign with directions to the closest villages for they were taking a break. "From what you've said so far it won't be easy to find her and I don't have her scent so I can't track her down."

"That won't be necessary... At least for now. If she tries to avoid us then your and Ralt's sense of smell will be helpful." Naruto commented before he recalled the information Jiraiya had given him before he went off to do whatever it was he did. "Our best bet will be Tanzaku City but that is a few days from here. We will have to check every casino in each city before moving on."

"Every... Casino?" Sakura blinked as that was not the first place she would think about looking for the legendary medic. "I would think someone of her talents would be found at hospitals and clinics over the fire nation. Shouldn't we start there or at the inns?"

Naruto shook his head and took a bite from his ramen. He normally would have to agree with Sakura but this case was a special one. "No and for two reasons... Tsunade has developed hemophobia, a fear of blood. This is because of the deaths she has witnessed in her life, some of the people being extremely close to her."

"And... The second reason?" Sasuke asked after a pause for nothing had been said. It was possible because Naruto's mouth was full of miso flavored ramen but nonetheless...

Swallowing the insane amount of noodles, Naruto shook his head once more and threw the cup into the open fire. "Because Tsunade is a chronic gambler... And she's a bad one at that because it seems she can never win. With any luck, we'll find Tsunade soon enough gambling every cent she owns. That I can almost guarantee."

All three had beads of sweat falling from their head hearing this. They could understand becoming a hemophobiac due to a bloody past... But a chronic gambler that couldn't win? Wouldn't someone as renowned, and supposedly intelligent woman like she was said to be, realize that after a few losing hands to call it quits?

They did not know Tsunade... They didn't know her at all.

* * *

Narrowing her eyes at what just transpired, a certain buxom blonde couldn't believe she just won over twenty-five thousand ryo in a single hand. Simply gazing at her black haired partner, she stood up. "Shizune, get our things... We're living. Something is about to happen and I'm not staying here to find out what."

Knowing her master's luck and knowing what happened when she actually one a bet, Shizune could only nod and but Tonton down and rounded up the winnings. They really needed them. This would pay off more than quarter of Tsunade's debt and keep the debt collectors off their heels for a little while.

But as she gathered their money, she turned to her master before tilting her head. She was wearier than she normally was and that was not a good thing. "Lady Tsunade... What's wrong? ...Is it about running into her?"

"No it isn't... Don't worry about it Shizune." Tsunade started before realizing Shizune wouldn't buy this and decided to pacify her friend. "I just have a bad feeling and want to leave. We should head to Tanzaku City anyways... I heard they have some good places to eat there... And some better casinos that pay out more than this one."

Raising her eyebrow, knowing that Tsunade wasn't telling her the full truth, Shizune could only nod for it could be nothing. "Alright... But can we get something to eat first... I'm rather starved and so is Tonton."

"Of course... We got some money, don't we?" Tsunade grinned as for once she would be able to pay for lunch. "So now if you will just hand over that money..."

"No! We're using this to pay off some of your debts and that final! I'm not letting you get this money!" Shizune defended the back and held it tightly to her chest, Tonton stepping in front of her and oinking despite knowing that nothing could be done if Tsunade really wanted the money.

Sighing while a bead of sweat fell from the back of her head watching this happen, Tsunade simply rolled her eyes and waved it off. "Fine... But next time I win some money I get to spend it! No buts about it!"

Letting out a relieved sigh, Shizune followed after Tsunade with a smile before she froze and her eyes widened in horror. The last time Tsunade said she won money and spent it...

Their debt doubled in amount.

* * *

"GOD DAMMIT!" Yugito screamed out in annoyance. The reason why you might ask. Well...

"The one damn time I get some free time Naruto isn't here!" It seemed Naruto not being there was building on her nerves and she was venting.

Sitting across from her on the other side of the table, Anko decided to stop teasing Yugito by roughly making out with Itachi. At first it was fun since it was flustering the blonde but now... It wasn't fun any more because she could see something was bothering her.

"Alright... Spill what's bothering you or I'm tying you up against and torturing it out of you." Anko grunted at her adopted sister, for that was what she considered Yugito because there was only a six year difference between the two. "And don't say it is about Naruto not being here. I know you two haven't made out yet."

Twitching, partially because Anko knew something was wrong and SOMEHOW knew she and Naruto hadn't made out yet, Yugito lightly growled. "I don't want to talk about it... But it does involve Naruto."

"Does this... Happen to involve what I think it does?" Itachi slowly stated, figuring that if he was somewhat indirect about it that Anko wouldn't catch it but Yugito would. It wasn't that she didn't need to know about it... He simply thought it would be better if she wasn't worried about it for a long stretch of time.

"Yeah... It does. I am also not happy about what will happen once it does." Yugito responded glad that she could vent somewhat to Itachi for the plans of the war were not known by very many, only the captains of Anbu, the head ninjas and the top jounin in the village. "But that isn't all... I ran into Yeizu on my way here."

Hissing at the name, Anko was only kept in her seat by Itachi. Otherwise she would have immediately left and castrated him. She was the first person that witnessed the aftermath of their breakup and wanted to kill the chunin. "What did the little punk do this time? I swear if he..."

"We only talked... And Naruto somehow got brought into the conversation and we both said some things." Yugito sighed as she didn't want to come out and say she had just got into a fight in public about Naruto. "You don't need to worry about it... I'm over it."

After a long pause Yugito leaned back in her seat and contently sighed. "You now... I'm actually glad we broke up. I couldn't have been with somewhat that didn't like Naruto. He's been a part of my life for almost seven years now and I'm not going to just cut him out of my life."

Smiling at the maturity Yugito showed, ignoring that he was only a year older then she was, Itachi simply nodded in agreement. "And that is for the best. If you have to sacrifice something that is important to you to make a relationship work it isn't worth it. I wouldn't give up my family for the world."

"And you're lucky... I don't require anything but love and sex... And I want the latter soon." Anko lovingly, read lustfully, embraced Itachi into her barely concealed bosom.

Dispersing into a swirl of ravens, Itachi pushed Anko to where he was sitting in the booth before sliding back in. "Yes I am... But there is one thing I did ask of you..."

"I'm not going to answer that." Anko's face fell immediately and narrowed her eyes at the Uchiha. "If I need to answer that question you don't even know me..."

"So when are you two getting married?" Both Anko's and Itachi's eyes widened at the voice of the newcomer before the silver haired jounin took the available seat next to Yugito. "I mean I saw Anko looking through wedding gowns..."

"I'LL KILL YOU COPY CAT!" Anko lunged over the table and grip Kakashi's throat and began strangling the pour one-eyed jounin. "YOU JUST HAVE TO POP IN AT THE WRONG MOMENT AT THE WORST POSSIBLE TIMING DON'T YOU? I DIDN'T WANT HIM TO KNOW I SAID YES JUST YET!"

Suddenly Anko was pulled from Kakashi, who was grateful that the snake mistress was no longer violently thrashing him, and pulled into a deep kiss. She resisted at first before quickly melding into Itachi's side, doing this weird little body shake in the process.

Then both Kakashi and Yugito realized Anko was trying to shimmy out of her jacket and clothes to their horror. Luckily Itachi caught this and engulfed both into darkness and dispersed.

"Okay... Something tells me that we won't be seeing them any time soon." Kakashi stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world before pulling forth one of his usual books and opening it. "So how are you doing without Naruto here? You two haven't been separated since he came back from his training trip with Jiraiya three years ago."

Cursing the copy cat to hell for hitting her problem on the head, Yugito sighed and leaned back. "I could be doing better... I've grown comfortable with him around and with him not even here in Konoha... It is unsettling. I don't like being separated from him."

"Uh-huh..." Kakashi flipped a page, despite knowing so was only gaining Yugito's ire. "You know... Despite all the ups and downs you two have had over the years I really can see that both of you care deeply for one another. The only problem is both of you are stubborn and you won't admit."

"I can't blame you though... Being shinobi we must live a guarded life for one day you could be lovers and the next day be grieving over their tombstone." Kakashi sighed before putting the book away and placing his hand on Yugito's shoulder. "Just do me a favor would you... And cherish the time you have now. You will never get it back and it doesn't do to live in the past. I've made that mistake more than once."

Smiling at the scarecrow, Yugito could only shake her head. Despite his perverse nature Kakashi was the most mature... And he always seemed to say the right thing at the right time. She swore that he was far older than he really was and lied about his age. Someone was his wisdom couldn't be twenty-four...

Sighing out, Yugito's eyes drifted before she frowned ever so softly. There... There was someone there just a moment ago and she had been watching them since she arrived. Narrowing her eyes for a moment, she tapped the table before whispering. "Kakashi... I think..."

"I know... Let's go." Kakashi once more was serious as he tilted his headband down to cover his Sharingan. "I hope I'm wrong... But if I'm not trouble is brewing."

Looking at Kakashi oddly for a moment, further alert seeing that he temporarily revealed Sharingan to see something, Yugito narrowed her eyes further. She knew she had been following two intruders all morning but...

Could they really be that dangerous?

* * *

Scratching his nose, wondering why he had been sneezing, Naruto shrugged his shoulders. He didn't believe in superstitions and he wouldn't start now. There must have been something in the air.

Shaking his head, getting his mind off of trivial matters, Naruto looked around and sighed. He of course could use his sensory and see if she was in town but that would deny his squad useful experience. "Alright guys... Let's check every casino, bar and restaurant there is in this town. We'll be separate take..."

"Um sensei... Your sensei is here." Kerlya twitched before pointing towards the bath houses, feeling rage for she knew what the man was doing but held it in.

Naruto twitched. Of course Jiraiya was out doing research and not doing anything useful with his time, like gathering information on Orochimaru or the Akatsuki. And of all places for him to disappear he doesn't even try to head somewhere else. He went straight to the closest town.

Without thinking Naruto half heartily threw a kunai at his other hand and use the seals on it transport it at the peeping sage.

Delighted at hearing the man screaming out in pain when the kunai made contact with his rear and pleased hearing the roar of many angry women, Naruto felt a little better. "Alright... Now take these COMs. We'll be searching for Tsunade here in town..."

"Um... What?" A black haired woman said as she was just passing by and heard them suddenly say searching for Tsunade. She noted their headbands and knew they were leaf shinobi but that wasn't always the best thing.

The last time Konoha shinobi came out for them was because Tsunade owed them money...

Thankfully there was three, no two gennin among them so she doubted that this would be the case this time. The black haired one was chunin and that wasn't too surprising but the blonde... He was wearing a jounin vest yet he was no older then the three with him. That was somewhat shocking. But she couldn't help but feel as if she had seen him before...

Twitching at being interrupted again, Naruto turned to the woman before his face dropped. There was no way... There was no earthly way that finding her was this simple. After everything Jiraiya had told him if he found her this quickly he was going to rip the pervert a new asshole with his newest addition of the Thousand Years of Death...

Rasengan style.

"Are you... Shizune by any chance?" Naruto had to ask despite sensing the amount of chakra she possessed and knew she was a ninja and her appearance matched Shizune's description perfectly.

"Um... Yes I am. Can I help you?" Shizune tilted her head in confusion, wondering what all of this was about and hoped that they weren't hired by some debt collectors... Though the collectors would have to be pretty stupid to hire Konoha ninja as most knew who Tsunade was.

Repressing the urge to groan and moving to finish off the toad sannin, Naruto forced a smile. "Can you lead us to Tsunade please if it isn't too much trouble? I have some news from the Third to bring to her... And some business to discuss."

"And your names are?" Shizune asked. She trusted them enough seeing that they were shinobi of the leaf and seemed to have a purpose here but... She at least wanted to know who they were.

"I'm sorry... These are my students. Inuzuka Kerlya, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke. And I am Namikaze-Mitarashi Naruto." Naruto smiled brighter as for some reason the presence of this woman just made him feel... He didn't know. He just felt comfortable around her. And that was a little frightening.

Shizune merely nodded at first hearing the gennin and chunin's names. Then her eyes nearly bulged at hearing who he was. The Prince of Konoha... Was here to talk with Tsunade. Oh she didn't think this would end well... Tsunade's winnings told the future yet again.

"Um... Sure. But can it wait for tomorrow. Lady Tsunade is currently... Indisposed at the moment. And if Jiraiya is here as well I doubt she will just leave." Shizune spoke smiling at the four teens but was inwardly frowning at this situation and wanted to get out of here quickly.

"That is fine... But do not think of giving us the slip." Naruto informed Shizune as he would not let them go so easily. "...If it would keep her here for a while longer I will lend her some of my ryo so she can gamble all she wants here."

Raising her eyebrow at this, wondering what was some important that they had to stay with them for a while, Shizune decided not to bother asking. It was already a hassle if the Prince was involved and there was no way they could give him the slip... Very easily.

"I'm sure that will make things a little easier." Shizune admitted as she knew that Tsunade would think twice about leaving town if she had some money to gamble with. "I will tell her this in the morning... So have a nice day and it was nice to meet you."

"Shizune... Who is this?" At that exact moment Shizune's parade came to an end and she nearly ripped the hair out of her head.

Wondering what was wrong with her apprentice, not having noticed the other Konoha ninja in favor of watching Jiraiya get pummeled as that was always fun to watch, Tsunade turned to the four before she dropped the bottle of sake in her hand. "Kushina's boy..."

"DON'T SAY HER NAME!" Naruto violently hissed out, his eyes quickly dilated in rage while killing intent rolled from his very being at the mention of her name. "That witch has nothing to do with me and if I let alone see here I will kill her!"

"So would I..." Tsunade mumbled under his breath, not affected by the intent to kill, before sighing and motioning Naruto to follow. "Come... I knew I would have to speak to you sooner or later. Might as well do it over a drink."

Biting his lip, attempting to rein his rage, Naruto took several breathes only managed to quail his killing intent. "Sorry for the outburst... But never mention her name in my presence again."

"I'll take care not to." Tsunade stated before she headed to the closest restaurant that she knew served something good to eat. They had only taken their stuff from the inn and hadn't gotten anything to eat yet. And this worked in their favor anyways...

They didn't have to pay.

"Come on..." Naruto spoke to his team before sighing. He really didn't want to hear Kushina's name but now that the three heard his name he had to explain this one to them. "We'll talk about this later..."

Sasuke and Kerlya could only nod, figuring that their sensei had a reason to burst out like he did. Sakura however... Knew exactly what she had felt from Naruto and she knew that rage quite well... This anger was like her own for her mother.

She narrowed her eyes at this development. What had his own mother done to him?

* * *

Anko was rather upset. She had actually thought at first Itachi had taken them out here to make out. Doing so in a rather public place was strange, as the Uchiha was against voyeurism, but it only turned her on.

So she was really getting into it when he broke their kiss and his face turned deathly serious. "Anko... I know you want to keep going but I know you. You felt that chakra."

Hissing for she did not want to stop, especially just because of two intruders, Anko narrowed her eyes. Those two... Had followed them here. And if they were able to track them after Itachi used his Void Leap... Either one was a good sensor and they understood time and space very well.

And that meant they were dangerous.

Almost wishing for her Anbu gear, as a lot of her weaponry was sealed within it, Anko followed Itachi's example and masked her signature. If they were dealing with a sensor the odds were they had already been spotted. However they still had the advantage here and could attack without restraint.

After all damage to the walkway over the river wouldn't be too hard to fix. "Alright... Who are these... Akatsuki?"

Itachi simply nodded and was surprised that the Akatsuki was targeting them again so soon. From what he figured Naruto's demonstration against Hidan and Kakuzu should have forced them to lay low for a while and wait for the perfect strike... So why come now?

"The tall one has a massive amount of chakra, one nearly equal to Naruto's. The smaller one doesn't to have very much but... I get this sense of foreboding around her. She feels like she is the more dangerous threat." Itachi whispered and kept his eyes on the smaller of the two.

Coming up with a game plan, knowing Kakashi and Yugito would soon arrive to aid them, Itachi cursed. He didn't want to put Anko alone against either. She was best when she was partner with someone else in the unit and while deadly on her own... These two were out of her league. He had to hope the two were on the ball and came quickly.

"So you came..." Itachi's eyes went wide at the origin of the voice and turned his vision to where it came from only to see his mother standing before the two Akatsuki members. "I thought it was you... I could never forget your presence."

"Mikoto..." The smaller of the two softly spoke, lifting the brim her sakkat so her red eyes met Mikoto's Sharingan. "So you've come to meet me... My dear old friend."

"Don't you ever call me that again!" Mikoto hissed out while her Sharingan slowly spun, analyzing the two before her. "The moment you abandoned him... That very moment you left him to suffer through the hell he's gone through... That moment we were no longer friends, Kushina!"

Soon as he heard that name, Itachi responded and in a dark void head appeared a few meters behind the two Akatsuki members with Anko, a deep frown craved on his face. "So you are the one... I suppose this was inevitable."

"Itachi... My have you grown. You were just taller than my knees the last time I saw you." Kushina softly smiled after she turned her head slightly at the presence of the Uchiha head. "To think you have become so strong that our organization originally wanted you over me..."

"And you little girl..." Kushina suddenly said throwing a kunai towards the ground only a few feet before her, forcing Anko to sink back in and appear at Mikoto's side. "Should stay out of this. I wouldn't want to scar up that pretty face of yours and make Itachi mad."

"Like hell I'm going to stay out of this! You're after my son! I will not let you lay a hand on him!" Anko feverishly hiss darkly, her chakra flaring around her violently before drew a kunai.

But before anything could be further said, the taller Akatsuki member drew his mammoth weapon before him threw his sakkat away. "Seems like quite the homecoming... Would you mind if I rip out this one's throat? She's making quite an annoying racket."

"Do what you wish, Kisame but conserve your energy. He isn't here and our goal is not to capture the Nibi. Leave that to the incompetent duo for she isn't worth our time." Kushina responded before she lightly tossed her sakkat away as well, her red hair whipping behind her. "I will deal with the two Uchihas. Their eyes are worthless against me."

"You're too cocky, Kushina." Mikoto narrowed her eyes and while she knew her friends abilities and knew that Kushina could defeat her, her son was in a whole different category.

Kushina could only smirk before her red eyes glinted in the light before her eyes lids covered them. "You shall soon see... Why I have only lost two fights in my life. And you will not have same luck that Kakashi had that night."

"Kisame... Go wild." Kushina ordered before drawing two kunai and keeping her eyes shut, waiting for anyone to make a move against her.

The huge mist swordsmen's smirk was the only hesitation he had. He burst forward with such speed for his size that it stunned both Anko and Mikoto, neither being able to keep up with him. He soon stood before them, his sword arcing to slice them in two from the ribcage up.

Itachi appeared through a dark void and his wakizashi met Kisame's giant blade. "Take care of Kushina! I'm best equipped to deal with him right now!"

Neither argued with him for they both wanted a piece of Kushina and quickly hurried to the red head. Kisame only smirked at this and used some of his formidable strength to push the Uchiha back and was quite surprised to see him hold up rather easily. "You are good... But you should know that she is stronger then I am. They won't too long against her."

"I'm not planning on leaving them alone for that long." Itachi kept his face neutral. "You may be good enough to beat almost any ninja you run across but I'm one of those few that you know you can't."

Kisame narrowed his eyes, seething at the thought this ninja thought of his own skills so highly. He would bring him down a peg or two. "Heh, let's just put that mouth of yours to the test. You won't beat me in my own game."

The Uchiha head only smirked at this before pushing off and sliding back, sheathing his blade in the process. "You are right about that... But for you see this fight has already been decided."

Everything suddenly began to darken and every color reverted to different shades of black, white and grey. Kisame immediately put his hands together in an attempt to break free but Itachi's grin only increased as he began to duplicate. "For you can't escape. You're already in... The Nightmare Realm."

And with that burst into thousands of ravens and engulfed a stunned Kisame.

Kushina wanted to curse at Kisame for forgetting his briefing about Itachi. Sure the Uchiha was great in every aspect but it was genjutsu was his specialty and he wasn't going to fight someone he knew that could beat him in a ninjutsu and sword fight.

Lucky for her Kisame wouldn't be brought down by such an illusion and had already broke free but now Itachi had the edge and soon put Kisame on the ropes. She knew he was dangerous and that was why she wanted to deal with him for his skills would be moot against her at full strength.

Easily blocking the slash Anko threw at her from behind by simply sticking her kunai in place to where she knew the strike would be, she twisted her hips and kicked the snake mistress in the gut. On her one foot she leapt into the air to avoid Mikoto's slide and threw her kunai down and into her former friend's shoulder for she did not want to kill her.

"Sen'eijashu!"

Knowing the snakes were coming towards her in mid air, Kushina didn't even bat an eye and twisted and turned allowing the snakes to pass by harmlessly. The attack however was not done yet and they began to attempt to constrict around her but with two nearly unseen strikes the snakes returned to their world.

Without hesitation she flicked her kunai back and smirked at the hiss for she knew it had made contact. "You are slow boy... This is a battle against me as well. Don't let that big lug of mine distract you."

Pulling the kunai from his thigh, not being able to dodge at the exact second it was thrown due to the fact that he had been going through a set of hand seals... "Shit!"

Kushina dispersed into a swirl of leaves and appeared behind Kisame just as he finished his series of seals. Her smirk was evident three massive sharks burst from the water... Only for three other sharks to collide with them.

Landing in a crouch before his peers, Kakashi narrowed his eyes at seeing the red head behind the shark like man before standing to his full height and gazing towards her coldly. "So it is you Kushina... I told you thirteen years ago. I will not let you harm a hair on his head."

"You're here too, little Kakashi? ...How Minato would dread seeing this. His wife and his student fighting." Kushina sadly shook her head while thinking of her deceased husband.

"At least I'm fighting on the side I know my master would be on. He would defend Naruto with ever fiber in his body... Even from you." Kakashi almost growled before his Sharingan seemingly began to morph.

But its transformation stopped when an explosion of chakra erupted from behind Kushina and Kisame, forcing the former to open her eyes and turn back to see the Nibi jinchuuriki with a massive flare of demonic chakra surging around her. "Don't get involved in this girl... We aren't here to capture you. All we want is to take that corruptive fox and give my son the peace he deserves. I will no longer stand by and let that demon manipulate him into believe it is his mother."

Yugito hissed out as Nibi's violent purple chakra began to bubble around her. The rage she felt at the sight of this woman... The woman that gave birth to Naruto. The woman that didn't even consider that he was human any longer and thought to rid the demon from his body.

The woman... That was so much like her father who took her mother's life for defending her! She would not let the same thing happen to Naruto!

She would kill her!

"Kyuubi..." Yugito deeply hissed out in her rage at the red haired woman. "Is more of a mother than you will ever be! She has stood by him through all the turbulent in his life... In our life! I will not let you take away what he has worked so hard to gain! I won't let you take the humanity he has worked to regain!"

Narrowing her eyes for she could not believe such a thing, Kushina turned her full attention to Yugito and crossed her arms over her chest. "And what are you going to do about it? You aren't in the position to do anything for him for you will only get yourself captured."

"I'll... I'll..." Yugito stumbled over her words in her anger, her eyes flashing darkly as all her pent up rage began to come forth.

And in a fiery explosion of the demon cat's power the fiery form of the demon stood before the two Akatsuki members and its golden eyes bore into both of their souls.

"_**I WILL DESTROY YOU!**_"

* * *

**A/N**: Yeah, I know. I'm evil for ending it here but this is the perfect cut off point. Besides I can't do near ten thousand chapters each time. That is rather taxing and sometimes an idea doesn't extend to that kind of length.

Also I know Nibi is made of blue fire now thanks to Kishimoto but I said her chakra was purple earlier and will stick with it. Since I don't think I ever mention eye color I went with gold because it is a common eye color for cats.

And I think that Kushina's character is coming along nicely. With the changes I'm making her character really flows well and it will allow me to do more with her then in the original script. So she is going to be sticking around for a while and plays a rather critical role.

There isn't much else I can think about except Shizune not trusting other Konoha ninja too horribly much. I hope I made it clear that she does trust her fellow ninja she just is defensive for she has no clue who all Tsunade owes debts to.

Anyways I had writing fun this chapter and hope you enjoyed it. If there is anything you have to ask or want to make a comment leave a review and I'll see what I can do.

Peace Out.


	22. A Little Faith Please?

"So why is it that you were sent after me?" Tsunade softly spoke before taking a swig of the sake that had just arrived. "Normally if sensei has a message for me he sends that perverted mess over there after me or sometimes a courier ninja."

"You know... I am right over here and can hear you, Tsunade." Jiraiya twitched at Tsunade's lack of respect aimed towards him. Sure it was well deserved but he always respected her... And her body.

"That is exactly why I said it. Grow up and stop writing those damn perverted novels... Or at least let me share in the profit! I'm the star for half of them anyways!" Tsunade said with a roll of her eyes before her mood shifted and she shook her fist violently at Jiraiya.

Coughing to bring attention back to him and to keep this situation under control, Naruto refrained from shaking his head. Who would believe two of the legendary three were so childish yet he, a twelve year old, was more mature then either from what he had seen.

"Actually I was sent here for two reasons and you won't like either of them." Naruto spoke when Tsunade's gaze turned back to him and she seemingly calmed down. "The old man wants you to come back..."

"No!" Tsunade hissed out as memories of everything bad flooded her mind. "I told him once I left I was not coming back for any reason and nothing can sway me otherwise!"

Naruto simply nodded at her outburst. Even without the briefing he heard her pained voice and understood that going back would mean returning to the place of her pain. "And he expected you to resist so that is why I was sent. You should know why better than anyone else."

Tsunade, despite her angered state at the gall her sensei had, winced. Oh she knew why Naruto was sent. If there was anyone that could emphasize with her pain it would be him. Hell she doubted she could emphasize with his pain and be anywhere remotely near loyal to Konoha.

Sighing and shaking her head, glad that she ordered some sake, Tsunade took a swig of the rice wine and sighed. "So what's the other reason why he sent you?"

"To see after I convinced you to return... To see if you would become the Fifth Hokage." Naruto responded with little hesitation.

The table shook as Tsunade slammed her bottle down onto the table. The only reason it still stood was because Tsunade did not put enough for to break it. "Even if I were to return home I would never take that job! Only foolish idiots aspire to be Hokage and I'm not one of them!"

"Each and everyone of single one of them are fools... Even my own sensei. Sacrificing themselves for the benefit of others... Ha! They sacrifice themselves needlessly." Tsunade finished and leaned back in her chair with narrowed eyes. "If that's all we are done here."

"No... And even if we were it is still our mission is to trail you until you decide to come back." Naruto stated before he turned his gaze to his gennin and narrowed his eyes.

Of all to get angry at the Sannin's little outburst, Kerlya growled at Tsunade with slitted eyes. "What is your problem? It is an honor to be considered for the position of Hokage! I don't know a soul that would turn down that opportunity for it would mean they accomplished something special... Something only four others have the honor of!"

"Not a single one of them is a damn fool like you are either! Each and every one gave their lives to protect what is precious to them and I know the Sandaime would do the same!" Kerlya loudly continued, not knowing the affect she was casting on her own sensei. "To think I once idolized you... You are nothing."

Naruto snapped out of his dazed state realizing this could get back. Kerlya had hit the same spot the Third had hit before he took this mission. But now was not the time to deal with it... For Tsunade was seething at his student.

Without hesitation he caught Tsunade's wrists and held her in place, a feat that was causing his entire body to shiver from the amount of strength she possessed. "You will stand down... Both of you."

Kerlya's eyes widened at how close to danger she had come and immediately nodded seeing Tsunade's hands just inches from her.

Tsunade, however, simply gazed at Naruto before easily pull her hands from his grasp. She was impressed that he had stopped her and the strength to keep her from moving an inch forward was formidable. Of course she hardly used her massive strength and didn't even use her chakra enhance technique but that wasn't the point.

But it was what she caught on her hands that almost made her smirk. If she had been dead set on hurting her she would not have been able to do so. Still she had to set him straight. "Don't think you can order me around boy..."

"I can and will if necessary." Naruto spoke with an edge and with a narrowed gaze. "And if you come at my students again... I will take care to make sure you will never be able to do so again."

Frowning at what was transpiring and deciding to keep a fight from breaking out, Shizune spoke softly to calm everyone down. "That won't be necessary... So what else did Lord Hokage want? You said that there still more."

Sighing as right now he wasn't too sure that he wanted to make this request, Naruto sat back down in his seat and schooled his face back into his neutral expression. "Yes... But it isn't something he wanted. It is a request of mine."

"I wanted you to train Sakura for you two are the only two known in the world to have the same muscle structure. My training can only take her so far." Naruto not so politely asked, keeping his gaze focused on the slug sannin.

Tsunade's head snapped towards the pink haired girl hearing this statement. "What? That shouldn't be possible..."

"It isn't genetic, Tsunade. You yourself stated that in the report. You figured it was just an anomaly." Naruto commented for he had read the reports to help his training with Sakura. "And the anomaly happened again. Sakura has the same muscle structure you have and is an aspiring medic ninja."

Perking his lips in slight interest for a moment, noting that the girl did have a similar build compared to her own, Tsunade shrugged and leaned back in her chair. "I'll think about that but your other to requests the answer is still no. ...I need to blow off some steam. Now where is this money that you offered to keep me here for a while?"

Shizune's head smack into the table while Jiraiya simply groaned out knowing what Tsunade wanted to do. Naruto shrugged for it didn't matter to him and pulled a wad of ryo from his pocket. "I will give you this under one condition... Sasuke will be with you at all times."

"WHAT?" Sasuke suddenly screeched out as the prospect of having to watch this woman was not appealing to him.

"Consider it training. I can easily keep watch of her but... Since you are a chunin now you must prepare for missions were you will guard clients and track enemies." Naruto silenced Sasuke before handing Tsunade the money, who was grinning madly and had stars in her eyes before she grabbed the said Uchiha.

"COME ON BRAT! WE'RE HITTING THE TOWN!" Tsunade yelled as she rushed out, dragging and tossing around Sasuke behind her. It could be said that Sasuke wasn't very thrilled with his treatment.

Shizune sighed and rubbed her temple. This was going to be a long week for her. "Lady Tsunade...

First they barely escaped their debt collectors at they were led by this young red haired girl from the sound. Next they had a run in with Kushina saying that they would have a visit from her son. And finally Tsunade wins big and runs into the Prince of Konoha who asked them to return to the village.

With their luck this week the fourth shinobi war would start soon and for some reason they would be the cause of it. She hoped that didn't happen...

She still hadn't found the right guy yet!

* * *

"Ugh..."

"Yugito!" She heard Kakashi's voice but she could see nothing but blurs. Her vision slowly began to clear but everything began to hit her at once.

"How many was there?" Yugito groaned out feeling like she had just went to war against an entire army on her own and lost... Horribly.

Her brain was pulsing so painfully it made her entire body shiver as the pulses traveled down her nerves. She swore she could feel a few bones that were in their normal place and each and every single muscle felt utterly exhausted. To make things worse she could hear Nibi panting within her mind meaning the demon was utterly exhausted.

"Just two..." Mikoto's voice stated before she stood over the semi-conscious neko vessel. "Your transformation brought enough attention that they had to flee not too long after.

Everything came back to her. She remembered why she currently lying on the concrete. That woman... That woman was here. Bringing herself up to a seat, despite the protest of the two watching over her, she panted before hissing out. "Did I get her?"

"No... She escaped with her partner. His sword drained your chakra and forced you to change back." Kakashi panted slightly while he bandaged a bloody forearm that seemed to have been ripped open.

It seemed Mikoto wasn't doing very well either and she had blood trailing down the left side of her face and gash in her left shoulder. And if she wasn't bothering to heal either of their wounds or her own she had probably almost out of chakra. "We underestimated their strength... And because of that each and every one of us is injured because of it."

"To be frank... You are the least injured among us." Mikoto panted before she fell onto her knees and shook her head. "Damn medics... They better get here soon. Itachi took Anko to the hospital over a few minutes ago..."

"Anko's hurt?" Yugito coughed after barely managing to ask about Anko. Her lungs felt like they were on fire and it took her a few moments for her to recover from her fit and look over at Mikoto and Kakashi.

She didn't like what she saw. Mikoto had looked away and bit her lip while Kakashi had a forlorn grimace before he heavily sighed. "She's in bad condition... She tried to take advantage of Kushina focusing her attention onto you... But she saw it coming and knocked her away... Into her partner's sword."

"They fled when we arrived and Itachi immediately took her to the hospital... Medics should be arriving soon so don't stress yourself too much." Asuma stated with Kurenai and Gai behind him, observing the battle field, taking any notes they could that might help and waiting for a tracker to arrive.

Yugito's face fell. A ton of weight had seemingly fallen onto her shoulders. Anko had been severely injured from what they said and it was because of that woman... The one that gave birth to Naruto. And she had been unable to do anything to stop it.

"Dammit... Why?" She cried out while tears began to form in her eyes. "I've trained so hard to stop her and I can't even do that! What the hell am I? I can't keep my promise to keep her from hurting Naruto and now she hurt Anko!"

"Yugito! Calm down!" Mikoto cried back and grabbed a hold of her shoulders. "You did everything you could! You weren't the only one that failed! We all let her get away!"

Shaking in the Uchiha matriarch's grasp, Yugito tried to break free. When she failed she hissed and tried to push her off. "You don't fucking get it! I can't let her succeed! I devoted my entire training to stop her from doing the same damn thing my father did to me and I just let her do it!"

Despite the impact of what Yugito had said, Mikoto kept her embrace of the neko vessel and simply held her closer before whispering in her ear. "At least you didn't stand by and let your so called best friend try and kill her own son then take his sister from him..."

Catching Yugito's eyes with this, Mikoto had a single tear trail down her cheek. "I failed Naruto so many times... I don't even deserve to be considered one of his god mothers. I stood by so many times when I could have stepped in and helped him... Damned of the consequences. But I didn't..."

"You aren't alone..." Kakashi grimaced as he knelt besides the two. "Everyone at one time is to blame for what happened to Naruto... I was always in the best position to be there for him yet I didn't think I was ready... And no matter how many times I think about it now I feel I let my master down."

"You're not alone in this, Yugito." Mikoto took over, smiling softly at Kakashi, before releasing her from her embrace. "We are all in this together... And together we will stop her. I promise you."

Looking at Mikoto and Kakashi for a moment, Yugito closed her eyes and ran her hand over her face. It still felt like she utterly failed but... She at least knew she wasn't in this alone. And they wouldn't stop and neither would she. They would put an end to Kushina before she could harm Naruto any further.

Her eyes snapped open when she felt a cloth go over her face. She noted that it was Mikoto's hand with the cloth before she drew it back. Seeing the blood on it, it felt like her eyes widened before she looked down at her hands only to see that they were soaked in the crimson elixir.

Quickly looking at Mikoto, she noted that she blood prints from where her hands had been but there was no indication that it was her blood. So whose blood was it?

Catching her look, Mikoto sighed in relief when she saw Tsume along with many of the clan heads arriving onto the scene. Wearily standing, the Uchiha matriarch panted heavily from the effort before she spoke. "If you can... use this blood to track her down."

"Kushina has come back to Konoha and she is severely injured."

* * *

Was this how it was suppose to end? Was she even going to get a chance to save her son from his agony?

Hissing at that thought alone, Kushina lifted her hand from her gut before she suppressed a scream into a sharp hiss. Blood poured from the deep claw shaped gashes on her stomach. They were very deep, cutting into her large and small intestines. She knew she was very lucky to be alive and that her entrails didn't fall out.

She knew Kisame didn't know any medical techniques for he didn't have the control for such techniques due to the amount of chakra within his coils. She fortunately did but right now she didn't have the chakra to perform such jutsus and she wasn't sure if she would have the concentration to do so.

"Kisame..." Kushina growled out in pure agony while more blood poured from her wounds and started to leak from her mouth. "I need you to lend some of your chakra to me... Otherwise I'm not going to make it."

"I'll try... But it is going to take some time to control my chakra to perform such jutsu." Kisame stated with worry as he liked his partner because she was the first woman that didn't care of his appearance and accepted him.

"It doesn't really matter... If it doesn't work I'm going to die so just transfer your chakra to me and have a blood pill ready." Kushina bit back a scream at the smallest shift in her body caused an immense anguish throughout her entire being.

Frowning at the amount of damage that she had taken, Kisame was quickly at her side and took out the said pill from his pouch. But just as he was about to place his hand on her heart a voice stopped him. "Let me deal with it... Kisame."

"Madara... Why are you here?" Kushina wanted to screech at him for interrupting but at the same time she knew Madara could possibly know medical jutsu for the amount of years he had been alive.

Ignoring the shock on Kisame's face from his true identity, Madara gazed at her wound for a moment before motioning his head at the person he was behind him. "Take care of her... If she dies I will kill you myself."

Sighing at his position, Kabuto had to heal her if he wanted to survive. So without hesitation he stepped to Kushina's side and quickly examined her wounds. "This is going to take quite a bit of chakra. I can do it but I will need her to put into stasis. I will need your dimension to save her."

"Fine. Just make it quick. I want Namikaze caught quickly by her at all costs. I do not need to reveal myself to the world." Madara responded and caught Kushina's gaze and caught her in hypnosis before he stood next to her and Kabuto. An orange swirl surrounded the two and seemingly absorbed both into his mask.

Kisame didn't like any of this so far. Sure he knew Tobi was always around their bases and Pein did nothing about it. But to think that the little troublemaker that annoyed the hell out of all of them was controlling the Rinnegan wielder. And of all things he was the legendary missing ninja from Konoha and Third Mizukage Uchiha Madara.

"It has been a while... Lord Mizukage." Kisame spoke, keeping his contempt for the man concealed knowing he stood no chance against him. "Why is it so important that we have to capture the nine tails now? Besides now that he knows the flash it should be the entire organization coming after him not just us."

"Kisame... If Kushina isn't able to defeat Naruto... She is the only one that can do it outside of myself and possibly Pein. ...Minato's flash has only one other weakens beside it has to have a marker." Madara turned his one eye to Kisame and revealed his Sharingan.

"It Kushina's knowledge and what I saw against my fight against Minato twelve years ago to find this weakness... And it all focuses around her. She is the most important piece to take him down. That is why I have you guard her... If she becomes this injured again I will kill you myself." Madara finished with his Sharingan burning into Kisame's soul.

Keeping his frown from showing, Kisame only nodded. "I will do so... But just tell me one thing. Why did you order Yagura to wipe out all of our clans including my family?"

Madara simply turned and walked away with a shrug but his voice was piercing. "To keep you obedient... My fish friend. When Kushina is healed I'll bring her back to you."

Clenching his fist watching Madara walk off, Kisame's rage was barely contained. His hand had slid to Samehada but he wisely did not attempt anything until Madara was gone. With a flick of his wrist, every single tree shattered before his might before he drove his sword into the ground.

"Damn him! I will make you pay Madara!"

* * *

This day was not going very well for the youngest Uchiha. First he was taken out this mission that he was told could last months only for them to find their target at the end of the first day. Next was the fact that the legendary slug sannin was just a whiny old woman that couldn't get over her past. And finally...

He was now watching that woman burn through the money Naruto had given her to keep her sated for a while. However she had blown through forty-five thousand of fifty thousand ryo that she was given. FORTY-FIVE FUCKING THOUSAND RYO! In one hour! And she hadn't even won once yet she refused to give up!

This was like watching a lamb being led out to slaughter and being able to do nothing about it.

Sighing, getting tired of this, watching Tsunade another thousand he walked over to her in an attempt to stop this travesty. "Shouldn't we head out? You are almost out of money and its past midnight."

"Just one more hand!" Tsunade growled out for she was pissed at losing this badly. Wasn't blackjack suppose to be a game that was relatively easy to win at! "If I lose this hand we'll head back and I'll ask for more money tomorrow!"

Figuring this was for the best he was going to get Sasuke simply crossed his arms over his chest and watched Tsunade bet another thousand on this hand. Watching the cards for a moment, Sasuke rolled his eyes. All she had to do was hit and she would win this.

How did he know this? He knew the count.

Seeing the slight roll in Sasuke's eyes, Tsunade frowned for a moment. She had been pretty excited that she had nineteen and figured that would be enough to win. However seeing that the dealer had a queen maybe he knew something. So deciding to go with what little luck she had she grinned and tapped her hand. "Hit me."

Drawing the card and placing it down on, the dealer's eyes widened. "That's twenty-one..."

"YES!" Tsunade screamed out in joy for she actually won the hand before she suddenly frowned. "Boy... Go back to you were for this hand. I want to check something."

Somewhat pissed that Tsunade had the idea to hit, Sasuke groaned and walked over to where he was and leaned against the unused slot machine. However if he had any luck Tsunade would lose the rest of her money in the next few draws. After all... Her luck was the worst he had ever seen.

Having the cards deal out until she hit, Tsunade groaned in distress at yet another lose. Then her eyes suddenly widened and in an instant she was at Sasuke's side, grabbing him by his waist. "Hey what the hell?"

"You stay with me!" Tsunade growled at the Uchiha before putting another thousand and looked at the annoyed Uchiha. Smirking at this, she turned to the dealer and grinned. "I'll stay."

The dealer shrugged as she had seventeen and he had sixteen. Drawing once figuring this would end this, his eyes narrowed when he busted. "Twenty-three... You win again."

"YATTA!" Tsunade screeched out in pure bliss before she started shaking Sasuke around like a small doll a little girl would have. "You are my lucky charm! Now let's earn back that money and double it! I'm all in!"

Sasuke's eyes widened in horror when Tsunade did this and won. Did she realize that he was counting and somehow read his facial expressions? If that was the case... They would be there all night!

"NO!" Sasuke screamed out in horror, wanting this night of a thousand horrors to end.

* * *

Sitting at the top of inn they were staying in for the night, the very one he knew Tsunade and Shizune were staying in; Naruto was in a meditative state and in a deep trance. Today he had been severely bothered and he needed to think about what he had heard.

He couldn't get what Hizuren and Kerlya had said today along with the grimace Jiraiya had when he asked Tsunade to become Hokage. Why now of all time did he doubt his decision? He never wanted to become Hokage. All he wanted to do was protect his family and friends and make sure they lived comfortably.

Yet... Why was he feeling like this? It made no sense. He had no desire to take the position. All the Hokage did was approve of rather trivial matters, occasionally an important one like a law or a declaration of war, sign massive amounts of papers and watch over the village's well being.

None of those things appealed to him. But for some damn reason he couldn't get Kerlya's or the Third's voice! Not only this, he kept seeing Jiraiya's face... No, it was also Sakura and Sasuke. They both looked disappointed when he tried to hand the position to Tsunade.

He could explain Sasuke's look for he thought the Uchiha would want his brother to take the position and become the first Uchiha Hokage. But at the same time he knew that he looked up to him... So was it possible that Sasuke wanted to see him take the position?

Sakura wasn't a surprise. If there was one person outside of the Third to be Hokage there would be no doubt it was him. Not only did she look up at him like some kind of hero but truly felt that he was the strongest in the village. Both were true with the exception of being stronger than Itachi for they were about equal.

This was troublesome... Everything was eating at him now. Now he thought about what Yugito had said after he had told her if he couldn't convince Tsunade that he or Itachi would be come Hokage.

_"Why didn't you just accept it? Everyone, at least the ninjas anyway, believe in you more than anyone else in this village and would follow you into the depths of hell. A war against the sound will be unpopular... But knowing Orochimaru is their leader and knowing what he wants they will stand by you as their Hokage."_

Her words alone started the doubt but Kerlya and Hizuren began chipping at his will. Then what the rest of his friend and family would say about him declining the position...

Naruto didn't like what he could hear them saying to him.

"Sensei..." Kerlya's voice broke him out of his thoughts.

Turning to Sakura and Kerlya, Naruto sighed watching the two girls as they stood before him. "What are you two doing up? It is my shift for now. You should be getting some rest. We'll be training...

"Why?" Kerlya asked with a downcast voice, striking a wince from Naruto for he knew what she was talking about. "Why did you offer her such a position? ...It isn't fair. Why didn't you take the job?"

Closing his eyes and sighing, Naruto wasn't sure how he was to respond to this. He couldn't just tell her why he really didn't want to become Hokage. But before he could even begin thinking of an answer his attention was brought to Sakura. "Sensei... I don't get it. I know many civilians don't like you but they don't even make up a quarter of the population any more. Most see you as who you are... The second coming of the flash and the strongest ninja in the village."

"So I have to ask... Why do you stay in your father's shadow when everyone already believes you are greater?" Sakura bawled out, her anger and sorrow coming out while tears dripped down her cheeks.

"Sakura... Kerlya..." Naruto opened his eyes seeing the two girls crying before him, Naruto placed his head in the palms of his hands. "I can't... I just can't. Konoha... I just can't do it. Not after everything I've been through."

"The pain is too great... And that is why I sympathize with Tsunade. We both lost something important because of our village. She lost her brother and lover before her very eyes. And I..." Naruto paused and turned from the two and looked up at the full moon.

"I lost my humanity for several years from the hell I was put through... Only now am I beginning to understand what it means again. That is why I will not become Hokage." Naruto quietly announced, closing his eyes and allowed silence to fill him. "You may lose respect and faith in me for saying this... But Konoha is only my home for my family lives there. If it wasn't for them I would have left long ago."

Neither Kerlya nor Sakura said another word, letting their tears do all the speaking. Sakura turned and sprinted away, her sobs racking her body. Kerlya quickly took off after her, not doing much better but going to do what she could do to help her friend.

Thankfully Shizune had been listening and temporarily revealed herself to Naruto despite knowing he was there. "You are right... I have lost respect in you... Just like I've lost most of my respect for my master. She has lost herself to her angst and I only stay with her as she is all I have left... I thought you would be stronger than she."

Turning without another word, Shizune dispersed and took after the two sobbing girls.

Naruto simply sighed and looked into the moon once more before his eyes widened slightly for he thought he saw his father's face on it for a moment... And he was frowning.

As if everything was attacking and chipping away at his emotional barrier around him, for the first time since he returned from the Cloud chunin exams... He started to cry. Why was this so painful? He couldn't understand it!

"This pain... Is this what it feels like to have one's own heart broken?" Naruto seemingly asked to no one. After receiving no answer, the young jounin sighed before he flickered into his room, deciding to sleep on this and hope the pain left him.

Standing below where Naruto had been seated, Jiraiya's eyes slowly opened and with a forlorn glance at the moon he sighed. "Minato... I am so sorry for allowing this ever to happen but I promise you this much... I will do whatever it takes..."

"And make sure that your legacy will return."

* * *

"It's done... She's healed but I highly recommend that she takes a few weeks for rest so the wound will finish healing completely. If she takes a decent blow there it could kill her." Kabuto sighed once he was finally released from Madara's domain and finished with Kushina's healing.

Madara said nothing for he knew medical jutsu could only do so much. Regeneration would have been better but only Tsunade was capable of such a feat and he couldn't force her to do this. She was simply too strong for him to control with his illusions and would be difficult to bring down on his own.

"That is fine but I doubt she will take such head." Madara commented finally after a few moments of silence before he turned his eye to Kabuto. "Don't you have a job to do?"

"Yes... I'll get on it, Lord Madara." Kabuto grinned before dispersing into the shadows, knowing exactly what his mission was and didn't need any clarification.

Smirking at Kabuto's willingness to assist him, Madara looked at the Red Haired Priestess before kneeling down besides her and running his hand through her hair. "So beautiful... If it wasn't for you love of that man you make a great bride."

"But since you know we can never be with one another and that is a shame... We could rule this world together." Madara sighed before softly lifting her bridal style.

It was time to take care of this. Once Kushina captured Naruto... Everything would fall together. And if not...

Well Kabuto would take care of that.

* * *

**A/N**: Well, that's the end of this chapter. It is a bit shorter than I wanted (I had wanted another six thousand word chapter but oh well) but I couldn't stretch this out any longer thanks to using Kabuto to heal Kushina. His mission will be obvious next chapter and no, he isn't the spy. The true spy will have his identity revealed soon enough but there will be a clue next chapter. Also I know some of you are mad for I didn't do the fight between Kushina and Yugito but I found it better not showing the battle and giving you hints on what happened. Might do a flashbacks to it later.

I had to involve Madara this chapter to slowly start developing his character. While he is practically the same in the manga, or as close as I can get him to, there are a few points of his personality I wanted to be let known for this story... AKA his love for Kushina.

I also know many of you, hopefully on a few though, will also be clamoring for Kisame to join Naruto's side now after what has happened but I will say that will not happen. I have a plan for him and I'm not going to change it.

Finally I know this chapter was rather emotional at the end but once more it is development for Naruto, showing how far he has come from what he was say in chapter eight. He will never be like canon Naruto and always seem somewhat Itachi like but he will start showing his emotions more freely.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you have any questions or comments you know what to do. Also, be aware I'm changing my update day to Saturday for I'm trying to gauge how many people read and review and certain days and it seems the weekend is when that happens the most.

P.S.: My Beta's computer is currently down so these last two chapters are unbeta'd and there will be some errors and grammer mistakes until he is up and back online.

Peace Out.


	23. A Critical Blow

"Her scent is gone…" Hana growled having followed Kushina's scent with her squad behind her and narrowed her eyes. "Her scent is thick here but that is due to the amount of blood that stains the ground."

"What?" Itachi narrowed his eyes, having come after making sure Anko was safe and having the chase approved by the Hokage. "That shouldn't be possible. If she was here her scent would have to lead to another direction and even if she doubled back there would have been at least two scent trails back there."

"She didn't double back. What I'm saying is here scent stops here. There is no more trace of it. It is like she vanished off the face of the earth." Hana snapped at Itachi for doubting her and her canines' sense of smell.

Frowning at this for scent just didn't simply disappear; Yamato slipped his mask from his head and ran his fingers through the blood. "It still warm. She was here at least a few hours ago but with the amount of blood she had lost she could not have flickered away very far without causing severe damage and possibly killing her."

"What? But if that is the case… No." Miko started, being under Yamato's command for he was her unit's leader. "If that is the case someone must have bent time and space…"

Everyone's eyes went wide for a moment at that revelation before Itachi cursed. "And if a time and space jutsu was use that means… We're aborting our mission. We do not have the strength to current deal with the threat at hand."

"What?" Yamato almost yelled before he slid his mask on and nodded once he realized the situation. "You're right… We'll be heading back immediately. This is out of our hands now."

Hana and Miko could only nod, ignoring the other Anbu's confusion. They knew how deadly time and space jutsu truly were and knew that they could do nothing here.

After all… They were team mates to the second flash.

* * *

Team seven, excluding Sasuke, couldn't help but blink at the scene they had walked in on. Everyone had agreed on meeting for dinner before starting the day and Kerlya would be taking over for Sasuke at watching Tsunade and would rotate daily with the next day falling upon Sakura. But what they walked into surprised them more than anything else.

Tsunade gleefully flaunting dozens of bags of ryo, paying for each drink she ordered before she noticed them. "Oh hey! Everything is on me and my newest best friend!"

At that very moment Sasuke was drug into a deathly hug by the slug sannin, firmly planting his face into her breasts. Despite how adamant he had been about being twelve and not sexually active… This was simply too much for the young Uchiha. She had the largest set he had ever seen and now he was getting a close up view of them and her…

His face went bright red before he suddenly passed out due to lack of oxygen to his brain. Tsunade noted this before gently shaking him. "Hey what's wrong? I thought we were going out to win some more today? Don't you die on me now! I need a couple hundred thousand more!"

"A couple hundred thousand… Son of a…" Jiraiya's mouth opened in horror when he had realized how much ryo was held in each bag. "How in the world did you win that much? That amount is half of what I make every book I release! The world must be ending if you had that kind of luck!"

"There world isn't ending idiot… I found my newest lucky betting charm!" Tsunade grinned and hoisted Sasuke in front of her, who was still passed out from his view of Tsunade's cleavage. "No matter what the game I won with him at my side! We stayed up to five until I got to five hundred thousand!"

"Oh Shizune!" Tsunade snapped her fingers before tossing two bags over to her apprentice. "That should cover up all our problems with debt collectors! We're no longer in debt!"

At this Shizune passed out along with Jiraiya. Naruto could only blink at the insanity unfolding before him before gazing at Sasuke and sighing. "So I would guess that Sasuke is now your permanent guard for our duration…"

"Yep! I won't accept anyone else! And if it keeps going like this I will have to permanently steal him from you!" Tsunade grinned ecstatically as for the first time in her life Tsunade was rich. Filthy stinking rich!

Rubbing his right temple, Naruto could only mentally groan at this turn of events. Now that apparently Sasuke was her lucky charm at gambling… It was going to be even harder to convince her to return home until he forcefully took the Uchiha from her. And right now…

He wasn't even going to bother. Maybe having Tsunade win tons of money would make things easier for him…

Kicking the toad sannin awake and helping Shizune out of her shock, he sat at the table and ordered the breakfast special before turning his attention to Tsunade. However his gaze soon found its way to his two female gennin. Both still had tears were ready to fall and they sat a table away, not wanting to even look at him.

Naruto sighed at this. The last thing he wanted was to tear apart the bonds he had built with his unit but at the same time he felt strongly against taking the title of Hokage. He felt justified in his reasoning's but from what Shizune said… He was the same as Tsunade. The only difference was he hadn't run away from everything.

And he did not want to have anything in common with the sannin.

Still twitching at his student for kicking him, Jiraiya sighed and rolled his eyes for he got no respect from any of his closest friends. Just what did he have to do to earn their respect?

Shaking that from his head for he would never give up writing his series, Jiraiya glanced at his old team mate. "I know you are acting out, Tsunade… What is it that is bothering you so? You can talk about it to us. It isn't like we're going to tell anyone else."

Suddenly being knocked out of her happy-go-lucky mood, Tsunade narrowed her eyes dangerously at the perverted sannin. She knew he wouldn't have been fooled but still… She did not want to let anyone else know about what was going on. "There is nothing wrong. I'm just excited about winning so much money."

"Oh, is that right?" Jiraiya's eyes sparkled for a moment before drawing forth a deck of cards. "Then a propose a bet then. If you win I'll give you stipend of a hundred thousand ryo for each of my novels that come out. But if I win you have to tell me what is going on."

Tsunade twitched. Oh the perverted hermit knew how to press her buttons and there was none bigger than her raging gambling problem. But that one hundred thousand ryo for each published novel sounded so tempting! Damn him for know her greatest weakness!

"I would like to join that bet." Naruto suddenly stated with his left eye twitching at the pervert before his gaze turned to Tsunade. "For if you I would give you access up to half of my father's account and I want the same thing he does if you lose. Ero-sensei… If you win I won't kill you for the third volume. If I win both Yugito and I get every damn cent you made from that book!"

Jiraiya's eyes widened for a moment before he cursed. He should have never encouraged either of them to ever read his series and if Naruto knew about it meant… Yugito read it and connected the dots for he was sure Naruto, and his sealed mother, would have just read it and enjoyed it for what it was.

A smutty adventure.

Despite knowing it was best to back out, Jiraiya deeply sighed and nodded his head, noticing that Tsunade seemed to be gleaming and gripping Sasuke by the collar to keep him next to her. Dealing out five cards to each, Jiraiya grinned at his hand. "Alright… Poker is the game and only jokers are wild. Tsunade, ladies first."

Doing her best to keep a poker face, which was a feat for she had a decent hand, she slid one card to Jiraiya and nearly screamed out for she had nearly the perfect hand.

Next Naruto went and took three cards, his face completely void-less of emotion. The slug sannin twitched at this fact because the prince gave nothing up but she doubted his hand would be better than hers. Finally Jiraiya took two cards and was the first to reveal them. "Full house; jacks high!"

"Ha! Straight flush in diamonds, take that!" Tsunade slammed her cards down in victory, enjoying the look of horror on Jiraiya's face knowing he was going to lose. "Now hand me over those checks boys…"

"I win." Naruto lightly commented leaving both the sannin to look at him with wide eyes before he revealed his hand to their horror. "Royal flush in spades. I believe that is the best hand in the game."

Tsunade's eye widened to an unmentionable size, ignoring Jiraiya's grumble for he lost more money than what he would have if Tsunade won but still at least won what he wanted to know. She lost…

She hadn't lost since she gained her lucky charm and kept him close. Did something happen last night that suddenly drained his luck? Suddenly turning to Sasuke with a critical eye, she poked the now awake boy in the head. "Hey! Did you lose your luck or something? I just lost a serious bet!"

"Don't blame me! Sensei never loses a bet unless he's up against Yugito. The one time he beat her was because Yugito said she would give him a surprise and purposely lost so she could kiss him!" Sasuke grimaced and hoped that he didn't earn her wrath somehow and be leveled by her legendary strength.

Groaning at the Uchiha, dropping him on his bottom for he didn't tell her this before and thought the luck he provided for her would prevail, Tsunade rubbed her temples. She didn't mind telling Jiraiya so much for she knew he would simply log it away and send it to the Third and have a hunter team dispatched.

Naruto on the other hand…

"_She_ visited me the other day… A few days before you got here and told me what she was planning on doing" Tsunade softly stated gazing towards Naruto before she shamefully turned away. "I failed to even stop her… For she knew of my condition and used it against me."

Just as Tsunade had predicted, Naruto's eyes dangerously narrowed and he began seething in hatred. She could practically feel the anger rolling off of him and that was due to the killing intent that was actually coming from him. This would not be pretty…

Beginning to worry, she was about to say exactly what happened when Naruto beat her to the punch, hatred evident in his voice. "Why did she come see you?"

Sighing, wishing she never had agreed to the bet in the first place, the slug sannin sadly glanced into her fellow blonde's blue eyes. "It was a brief meeting. She wanted me for a particular reason… And I cannot tell you it because I will not be the omen of bad news."

Catching the sudden shock and grimace on Jiraiya's face, Tsunade ignored the hiss from Naruto. She wanted to reach over and rip her white haired team mate's throat out for this. They should have told the boy when he learned of his parents!

Violently fuming in his seat, it took all of his self control to keep from ripping the place apart. "I know she's part of the Akatsuki if that's what you mean! And I swear if she is coming after me…"

"Ha! They didn't keep that a secret from you but they kept her one!" Tsunade ominously chuckled before her brown eyes darted to the toad sannin. "You know… I'm actually beginning to consider taking up your offer brat. Your village leader and his advisors are out of their fucking minds not to tell you about what they've been truly hiding."

All of Naruto's rage seemingly began to evaporate. No, it was still there he simply had bottled it up while his curiosity peaked. There was something the Third and some of his closest friends and family haven't been telling him? What was it they weren't telling him?

"Tsunade…" Jiraiya growled knowing what Tsunade was about to tell Naruto and wasn't going to let it happen.

"You can't stop me, Jiraiya… Naruto." Tsunade glared straight at Jiraiya with as much hatred she could muster before she deeply sighed and turned her attention to the blonde. "On the night you mother attempt to assassinate you, she did something else."

Sakura and Kerlya gasped at this revelation while Sasuke's jaw hung limply from his jaw. The mere thought that a family member, one's own mother at that, attempted to kill him was startling. But the fact that it was indeed his mother… It was something they could not wrap their minds around.

Looking down, unable to even look Naruto in the eyes as she said this, Tsunade grimly finished what she had to do. "Naruto… You have a sister. And on that night everyone just stood by and let her take Karin from your side and escape the village… They simply covered it up saying she kidnapped her."

"That is why she came to me… She wanted me to confront Orochimaru and take Karin from him as he kidnapped her from your mother and she can't get her back." Tsunade glumly admitted before leaning back in her chair, though she stayed on guard for the eventual eruption that would come.

But after a full minute… It did not.

Forcing her gaze back at Naruto, Tsunade's eyes narrowed at how he seemed to be taking this. His face to be devoid of all emotion and even his eyes lost any glint they had. This was the worst possible reaction she could think of. An emotional eruption would have been far kinder but this… This was bad.

Jiraiya already knew how bad this could get and was the main reason he had never said anything. He had to admit it that he should have told Naruto about Karin after the Cloud exams but… This is what they feared and were trying to avoid at all cost! For if Naruto knew they just stood by…

Naruto didn't even bother for confirmation from the toad sannin. His attempt to threaten Tsunade to keep her from telling him this to his current expression told him what he needed to know. It was true… He had a sister and they just let that woman leave with her.

Simply sliding out of his chair, Naruto turned to the exit and walked. At this Jiraiya stood up to chase before Naruto turned on him and without hesitation his fist slammed into Jiraiya's face and sent him through the kitchen, destroying a lot of equipment in the process.

Without even bothering to see what happened to him the blonde turned around and walked out of the restaurant, seething in a furious rage.

Tsunade sighed in relief seeing the anger Naruto showed. Not that she was relieved by any means but it was better that he was infuriated then having his mind shatter and reverting into a mechanical state.

Anger would subside and eventually waned into resentment for Jiraiya and the others that were involved and having a good view on the blonde he wouldn't let that carry on in other aspects in his life. He would simply not give a damn about those that were involved about it, however.

Still it was the best possible outcome really. If his mind had shattered and he truly became emotionless… He would simply be a killing machine… A true weapon for the leaf for he would not question any order. Then again if he had shattered yet kept his emotions… Well that could still be the case…

Groaning and rubbing her temples, Tsunade stood from her seat and didn't even bother with the sake. "Shizune… Pack our things. We're heading out in the morning… I can't sit and watch this any longer. Kids, tell your sensei we won't be returning no matter what. I will not return to that hell hole of a village."

With that, Tsunade sealed away her money before turning and walking out, not even going to bother with anything else today but drink her sorrows away.

No… Not only hers. She would drink _his _away too.

* * *

This trip couldn't get any worse for him. After all the turbulence of the last night mixed in with all the distress he was going through lately… This was not a great time to break down.

He had a sister… And she had been taken away by his mother before he even knew about her. That was unforgivable on its own for if she was with him… Who knew? Maybe he would have been much happier than he was now or possibly be an emotionless droid out for the revenge of his sister's death.

But what hurt was the fact that the old Hokage and his master had known about this and never told him. There was ample time to tell him but they never did. They could have said it when they told him of his mother and father but no… They remained silent and didn't say a word about her.

And that truly angered Naruto… Something that only happened when that woman's name was mentioned. They kept this from him and who knew who else knew about this and didn't say a word about it. For all he knew a lot of those close to him knew about it.

He immediately knew Kakashi had known about this. Mikoto and Tsume also were probably in the know for they were close to Minato, being an ex-girlfriend and team mate respectively. That would also lead to Itachi and possibly Anko knowing of his sister but they were still doubtful for he knew Itachi held no secret from him and Anko would have said something about it once she knew.

Still… What if they all knew about it? Sure Yugito shouldn't because she didn't arrive till he was six and the others had been around for a while but she could have easily been told…

"**Naruto…**" He heard his mother's voice from within. "**Don't doubt your family or friends. I'm sure a few knew but they didn't tell anyone else. You know for a fact that Anko, Itachi and Yugito would tell you the moment they found out. …And don't forget that. Each and every one of them loves you. Those that knew… were afraid of telling you and what could happen."**

"Afraid?" Naruto spoke out loud for there was no one near and he really couldn't keep his opinion in his head. "I don't understand… Why would they have been afraid to tell me? They told me about her…"

"**It isn't the same… You had your humanity stripped from you and if they told you about her when they informed you of that witch it was highly probable you would have lost it. Just the shock of hearing what she did shattered a lot of the progress you had made at the time."** Kyuubi responded with a soft voice.

"**Compare yourself now that you know to what it would have been like five years ago if you were to know… You are stronger both physically and mentally. You are now capable of taking such a burden and not snapping and retaining your humanity.**" The vixen continued in a gentle tone.

Frowning for a moment as he thought about what he it would have been like if he knew then, he had to give them credit. That most likely would not have been a pleasant outcome… But still. "I just can't forgive them for keeping something like this from me so long… If I had known I had a sister…"

"**You would have gone after her… And who knows where she is now if the snake has her? For all we know she could be in that group too… They could have raised her to hate your very being and have her prepared to kill you. Maybe that is why they didn't want you to know.**" Kyuubi countered with a hiss, not going to take the gentle approach any longer to get it through her son's head.

Scowling at that thought, Naruto shook his head and narrowed his eyes. "I doubt it… Something tells me that she above all else would not be swayed so easily… After all even if I don't like it… I did inherit that woman's stubborn streak and it is difficult to change my mind once I've made it up. Who could say it wouldn't be the same for her."

Kyuubi couldn't disapprove that but how easily it was to sway a young child's mind. She of course didn't when she had the chance but she could have easily manipulated Naruto if she had wanted to. "**It still goes without saying it is possible. They feared your safety… Your sanity and were waiting until you were strong enough to handle it for you were barely strong enough to handle learning of that whore.**"

"You're right… But I won't forgive them. That will come in time… After I find her and bring her back home." Naruto firmly stated and allowed no room for Kyuubi to say otherwise. "She may have been swayed by her words… But I will bring her back with the truth."

Biting back a frown and forcing a smile, Kyuubi kept her sigh silent. Her child had made up his mind and she could not tell him otherwise. For all they knew…

"That chakra!" Naruto suddenly broke out of his meditative position before narrowing his eyes. "There is a massive chakra signature near Jiraiya and Tsunade… This looks bad. And that smaller one…"

Naruto froze. He wasn't sure why but that signature felt… Felt so familiar. But he had never had felt it before so why would he…

He only froze momentarily before his eyes narrowed dangerously. So that was the game they were playing?

* * *

"Tsunade…" Jiraiya came upon the slug sannin in an open bar, slowly sipping on what seemed to be the tenth bottle of sake that was in front of her.

"Shut it! I'm in no mood to put up with your shit. …Especially not after seeing what I saw today. That is just more reason for me not to go home." Tsunade viciously cut her fellow sannin off, her brown eyes narrowed at the sight of the perverted sage.

Not caring in the least, letting her words cut into him, he took his seat next to her before ordering a few bottles of his own. "I won't defend my actions or the Third's… We should have told him sooner but we feared what his reaction could be. …We've all failed him too many times."

"No shit!" Tsunade growled at him, her eyes narrowed for despite the amount she had drank hadn't even begun to fade away the pain. "If you had half an inkling of how the human mind works you would have told him everything before any of the shit he went through! All you are doing is putting nails in the coffin!"

"You are wrong… Tsunade." Jiraiya stated before downing an entire bottle with little effort. "If he knew everything he does now then… He would have snapped after the first few beatings and there would have been nothing left of him except an emotionless shell… One controlled by the will of Kyuubi."

"He's stronger than any of us truly know I'll admit… But he is also very fragile. We didn't tell him that we had let Karin get kidnapped by his mother for all we knew he could break completely and who knows what would happen if that were the case." Jiraiya slicked his hand through his hair, his eyes on the verge of tears.

"It's still unforgivable… You hid his life from him for twelve years of his life. For that reason I will not be going back to that village. It is no longer my home." Tsunade declared before swallowing the last of her drink and putting down the amount she owed. "We're done here…"

"Actually we're not." A familiar voice echoed from behind them.

Both immediately turned at recognition of the voice and were filled with rage… Only for it to slip away seeing the sight before them. "Ah. It seems you know the situation at hand."

"Damn you Kushina!" Tsunade roared and stepped towards Kushina only to stop in fear of retaliation.

Kushina could only grin at the two motionless sannin before her, knowing they were putty in her hand now. "I wouldn't take another step if I were you… After all you wouldn't want to give my boy over here a reason to rip her throat out would you?"

"Lady Tsunade… I'm so sorry." A beaten Shizune uttered in the grasp of Kisame, Samehada held tightly at her throat so that a few of the scales drew blood. "Please… Forget about me! I…"

Driving her elbow into the nurse's gut, Kushina shook her head before place her hand over her mouth and placed a seal on her lips to keep her from speaking. "I can't trust you to speak now can I?"

"What do you want Kushina? You can't capture Naruto through using us as hostages!" Jiraiya snarled at feeling so helpless in this situation. Even with his skill level he wouldn't be able to do anything fast enough without it costing Shizune her life… And he could not suffer such a burden.

The red haired priestess only smirked at the two sannin before pointing her kunai towards them. "Whoever said I was holding her hostage for my son? I need Tsunade to repair the damage left from my wounds. My medic was good but… No one is better than Tsunade and I'm going to need to be at a hundred percent for this."

"And you three! Don't think about using that kunai or I'll have Kisame here rip out her throat before it can even touch the ground." Kushina announced loudly, feeling their presence just a few buildings down and attempting to mask their presence. "Now march over here like good little hostages."

Growling at their predicament, Sasuke cursed and put up the kunai for it was useless now. Standing, the Uchiha slowly walked over with Kerlya and Sakura flanking him nervously. They had no choice… Each and every one of them was a hostage now in this situation.

"Good… Now that all of you are here and accounted for this will make things easier." Kushina stated before gazing over at Kisame. "If any of them move while Tsunade is healing my wounds or if she tries anything rip her throat out and get out of here. We stand no chance against them without her."

The swordsmen could only grin at the tactic Kushina was using. Sure he wouldn't have normally used this kind of tactic being strong enough to handle mostly anyone one on one, sometimes two on one, but Jiraiya was out of the question. He may have fought Itachi to stall the Uchiha but the sannin had far more battle experience and could easily put him away.

"Now Tsunade… If you would. If you cooperate we'll let Shizune go without a fuss." Kushina motioned to her stomach, which she had cleared of blood to avoid Tsunade panicking and being unable to heal her.

Biting her lip for she rather see Kushina burn, Tsunade tightened her fist. Shizune's life was at stake and she couldn't let her down… She couldn't lose her. Shizune was all that she really had left and without her she wouldn't have a reason to cling to life any longer. "I'll do it… But you must promise to release her soon as I'm done."

"As soon as we are out of harm's reach." Kushina reprimanded for letting go of Shizune too early would be disastrous. "I will promise you we will let her go without another hair harmed but I need you to finish recovering my wounds."

"Fine." Tsunade growled out before she motioned for Kushina to sit on a nearby stool, a little away from the others.

Sitting in the seat, keeping her eyes closed to focus on any tricks they may be up to, Kushina couldn't help but frown at the situation. She had sworn Naruto was within the vicinity, just on the outskirts of town. Only Zetsu could momentarily mask his signature from her and that was because he blended his in with the surrounding.

Keeping her eyes closed, almost focusing solely on trying to find her son's signature. Yet she couldn't find it… This bothered her. She could see all within her range and even read her opponent's movements just from their chakra alone. For little did people know that their body naturally flowed chakra through their body for every single movement and this allowed her to track her opponents…

Something she heard boy had learned how to do on his own. If it wasn't for the demon corrupting his mind she would have been proud of him. She would have been proud of everything he had accomplished. But since that demon control his will… She couldn't let her baby go through it any longer.

Tsunade could see that Kushina was in heavy concentration, most likely keeping her eye on Naruto's position. Normally she would take care of this but because of the situation she had no choice but to focus on the rather nasty wound. It was mostly healed but there was still some damage to the muscle structure altogether and that was what she was mending.

But if she was focusing on Naruto… Maybe she could get this signal to Jiraiya somehow so he could pounce. She knew the man had the skill to successfully save Shizune. The only reason he hadn't done so was because of Kushina's presence for she could react before he could do a thing.

Half tempted to slow the pace of her healing, to give Naruto more time to get to them, Tsunade mentally groaned. That wouldn't work for she was working on Kushina and the woman was the most powerful sensor for her time if not currently. Only Naruto could challenge her for that supremacy.

Suddenly Kushina's eyes opened and focused onto Shizune. Her eyes narrowed for a moment for she could see nothing was wrong but it was weird. A strangle flicker had crossed her senses and it was confusing. She swore she felt a faint trail of chakra pass by her but…

"Kisame slit her throat!" Kushina screamed out, jumping away from Tsunade right before she gave the order.

The crimson elixir splattered onto the ground below. Tsunade froze in horror at what she had seen but she wasn't the only one.

Shizune fell safely into Jiraiya's grasp, rushing out to secure her, before looking up to see his apprentice with Samehada lodge into his collar bone.

The monster of the mist couldn't help but be surprised. He had never seen such a technique. He was able to move so quickly that even Kushina could not tell where he was until the very last second. And he knew this wasn't the flash for there was no marker and the signature golden flicker was no where in sight.

Did he know something more then the legendary Hiraishin?

Still despite all these thoughts in his head, Kisame ripped his sword through the teen's collar bone. He was somewhat upset that all he received from the blonde was a grunt. A collar bone injury was one of the most painful, not to mention deadly, injuries one could receive…

"RASENGAN!"

He had no time to counter or dodge this attack. There no distant between them. His opponent allowed himself to be caught by the blow to ensure that his own attack landed. That was why he allowed him to do the damage he did. He would survive it thanks to his demon. The same could not be said the other way.

A hole tore through Kisame's gut in a flash of an eye immediately after the orb had made contact. His eyes widened but he did nothing more than fall back. The agony he felt from the blow was indescribable. His entire gut had been ripped to shreds in a matter of seconds leaving only a blood splattered and organ fragments that surrounded him and covered the face of the nine tail vessel.

Kushina's eyes widened in horror. This was something new altogether. She was always able to track Minato when he used the flash and while countering using it was difficult it was possible since she knew where he was going to be. Even Itachi and Madara's she was able to track down and knew she could counter them if she must.

But this… This was something new altogether. She had only felt him a microsecond before he had arrived and taken Shizune's place and nearly broke free of Kisame's grasp. The flicker she had felt had must been a shadow to cover his own entrance… A feint. And she could not see through it.

And that frightened her.

Without another word she dispersed into a swirl of leaves. Kisame's lost hurt but there was nothing she could do. She would mourn once she got far enough away.

Naruto knew it was pointless to pursue Kushina and in his condition it didn't even matter. Taking that blow had severely wounded him and blood was still freely pouring from it. Falling to one knee, stabbing his ninjato into the ground, he grimaced. Not only was that blow bad but he had not expected any side effects from his newest creation, one to force the Akatsuki to take a step further back from him and Yugito.

Shizune didn't hesitate despite her condition. Thankfully they had only roughed her up and hadn't done any serious damage to her outside a few kunai and shuriken cuts. However she quickly growled at extent of the damage. "Dammit! Why did you do this?"

"Because… I was necessary. It is what my old man would have done." Naruto grimly grinned despite the anguish he now felt tear through his entire body. "And I have to say… I'm not going down the same path as her. I will do what I need to do."

"Tsunade… There is only one request from the Hokage now. …All he wants you to do is to return to the village." Naruto gasped, his vision slowly fading, he gazed towards the sannin and did everything in his power to keep his eyes from closing. "I will take the burden from him."

"I will become the Godaime."

Soon as those words left his mouth, he hissed out in a cry of agony feeling Shizune trying to reconnect the blood vessels and Sakura quickly joining over to help. They were making it very difficult for him to stay awake…

"You mind… Anesthetic maybe." Naruto growled out at the two, not wanting to be awake during this. He was already in a good amount of pain but the feel of his vessels being mended was not a pleasant one.

"Don't!" Shizune barked out at Sakura, keeping her focus on the task at hand. "Putting him to sleep now will send him into shock and kill him. Focus on mending the bones if you can. I'll keep… Tsunade?"

Forgoing her fear of blood, Tsunade knelt down besides Naruto and placed her hands on the wound, her eyes never wavering once. "Shizune, focus on keeping his heart stable. Girl, watch me and tell me if you see something strange."

Not hesitating, Shizune moved her hands straight to Naruto's chest and placed her hands over his heart and nodded for she was ready. Sakura was a little hesitant at first but moved her hands away to let the legendary medic get to work.

Soon after Tsunade's hands began to glow. The vessels quickly mended, far quicker then what Shizune was capable of, and were reconnected in only a matter of moments before she focused on the bone itself.

It was no means simple but it was much easier in comparison. While chunks were missing bone she simply stretched out what was left, knowing that it would harden back to its full strength naturally thanks to how the boy healed. The fox might not be in the picture anymore but her presence still helped guide his own chakra to naturally mend his wounds.

Once that was finished all that was left was the flesh. While it presented no problem it was just taxing. Once she finished, Tsunade sighed and swept the sweat from her brow. "That should do it… How is his heart doing Shizune?"

"Fine… It didn't even skip a beat…" Shizune responded with a troubled expression, somewhat frightened at how easily he endured the pain the healing process had brought onto him.

While Tsunade raised an eyebrow at this, Naruto simply sighed before leaning forward, almost slumping forward due to exhaustion. "Use to… much worse pain."

"Sensei…" Kerlya shyly spoke, still stunned at what had transpired, but more so by what he had said before Tsunade took over healing him. "Why did you…"

"One… reason." Naruto interrupted, struggling from breath and to stay awake, for he wanted to give her and his team an explanation. "It is for… My true nindo… My one to you… Perverted fuck."

Despite the tense situation, a very faint smirk appeared on Jiraiya's lips. "You can't let your family or friends down… Can you?"

"I'll take that as a no." Jiraiya quickly responded to his own question when Naruto fell into Tsunade's grasp, his limit catching up to him. "I'll take him and get out of your hair… I'm sure you have things you need to do."

Looking at Naruto, ignoring what Jiraiya said for a moment, Tsunade almost wanted to cry. She had seen them all within him soon as he said those words. Nawaki… Dan… Her grandfather and uncle… Minato… She had seen them all shadow around him. The tears finally began to fall freely.

At that moment… She believed there was still hope left for her home. And without hesitation she gripped her necklace and with a tug pulled it from her neck and tenderly laid it on Naruto's chest. It belonged to him… The next Hokage.

Lifting Naruto in her own arms, Tsunade shook her head and ignored the stunned shock on Jiraiya and Shizune's face. "No… I'm going with you. He's going to need me watching over him if this is how he deals with Konoha's problems… Just deal with the corpse."

"Hey… I'm still alive here… Barely." Kisame groaned, being unable to move due to the lack of blood lose, surprising everyone there. "I don't have much time… left so I'll be blunt."

Coughing heavily and spitting out the blood that he was choking on, the monster of the mist simply grinned. "Tell the kid… To kill Madara for me. He's… The only one that can. …And tell him… To use Samehada to do it. …So I can pass on peacefully… To the next life."

Frowning at what the shark man had to say, Jiraiya looked at the man for a moment and took a deep breath. "For your last words… Fine. But I will not take the sword…"

"You have no choice… Samehada has made up its mind." Kisame grinned, feeling his blade crawl directly under Tsunade and whimpering at her feet which in turn almost freaked her out in the process. "Two of the legendary seven… to one Konoha ninja… Ha. Zabuza will have a laugh… At this."

"Now finish me… I don't want this life prolonged any longer." The monster of the mist stated, his breaths becoming more ragged by the second.

Simply sealing the sword away for now, not wanting to deal with an annoying sword with its own mind, Jiraiya motioned for the others to take Naruto and go. Once they were far enough away, the toad sage went through the proper seals before taking a deep breath and blowing a stream of fire onto Kisame.

The Monster of the Mist did not utter a cry. He welcomed the pain for soon he would be no longer.

There would be nothing left of him for Madara to us.

* * *

"Mommy…" A young girl with light brown hair spoke up holding the hand of a woman with long purple hair. "Why are we here so late? Doesn't daddy get off soon?"

Yugao could only chuckle lightly at her little girl and shake her head. "He does but I've come here to see Naruto's nee-chan. She was hurt badly yesterday and I couldn't get in to see her so I'm dropping by now for they've let down her guard. Is that okay, Kihana?"

Kihana simply nodded her head. She liked her big brother and didn't want to see him or anyone he cared for her. "Is she okay?"

"She should be doing fine… I heard she was making a fuss last night about not being let out." Yugao bit her lip to keep from laughing for she knew it was more thin a little fuss when it came to Anko.

The Anbu that were guarding her room weren't really there for her protection… More like the medics' protection. Once she threw a fit she was a very dangerous person to be around.

Shaking her head, smiling softly at a nurse that passed by, she turned the corner with Kihana and froze. Unsealing a katana from her scroll faster than her daughter could blink; she softly pushed her back in the other hallway and looked straight into her brown eyes. "Kihana… Baby I need you to stay right here okay? I'll be back in second, okay?"

Not sure what was going on for this happened to quickly, the young girl simply nodded seeing her mother's worried face.

Smiling, trying to reinsure her daughter, Yugao stood before sprinting to the door where two unconscious members of Anbu now laid. This was Anko's door but… She wouldn't do this to them. They would still be standing and just a little bloodied…

Breaking down the door, her eyes widened seeing a silver haired medic standing at Anko's side, the snake mistress currently unconscious, and pulling out a syringe from the side of her neck. "Oh… Hello. You got here earlier then I expected."

"What have you done?" Yugao roared and slashed her katana out at Kabuto but he was too quick and easily jumped back to avoid the slash.

Bringing out a kunai of his own, he easily countered the next slash but wasn't expecting the girl to lower herself below her blade and ram her shoulder into his gut. The momentum took him clear out of the room and shattered the window. Using this to his advantage, he used a few of the shards of glass to cut into Yugao and pushed off the former Anbu member and allowed himself to plummet to the ground below.

Before Yugao could pursue she growled at seeing him use the seals of the Body Flicker and dispersing. Cursing at this, she barely had time to notice the kunai that he threw just before he flickered away. However it was horribly thrown and she was easily able to catch it.

At first she thought the paper attached to it was an explosive tag but it wasn't. Deciding to take a chance, she stripped the paper from the weapon to see it was simply a note. But it was what that note had said froze her.

In the very next second Itachi burst through the room seeing the guards out too, he noted Yugao's state and was quickly at her side. "What happened?"

Yugao couldn't find her voice to speak so she simply handed the message to Itachi, who immediately read it and cursed. "Kabuto… He was a spy from Orochimaru all this time and he had her poison Anko… Wait. What is this last part about? How could he know you were coming?"

"Hayate…" Yugao felt on the verge of tears saying her husband's name while her hand clenched tightly around her katana. "Hayate has been Danzo's spy this entire time. …He was the one that brought forth the depression because I told him everything and he let the snake now!"

Itachi's eyes nearly bulged out at this Yugao's declaration. There had to be some sort of mistake. Hayate was a good friend of his… There was absolutely no way he had been a spy this entire time. …However it was the only thing that made sense. Who else would have known Yugao would be here to check on Anko? And outside of the top jounin and certain clan heads and elders, only Anbu captains knew of the upcoming war against Oto.

"I'll… I'll deal with this." Itachi grimaced before turning to the multiple medics that followed after him, seeing him bolt towards this direction and worried that something was wrong. "Report!"

"It is no good sir! Whatever poison that was used we can't remove. It is a chakra specific poison and it is focusing on… The seal. It's trying to force it to activate." The medic responded, for at the moment he was in charge because Mikoto was currently unable to perform her task. "We'll do our best to seal it away but if it activates…"

"I know!" Itachi hissed, clenching his fist tightly and drawing blood from his palm before using it to summon a small raven. "Go to Naruto and tell him he needs to return immediately and with Tsunade if he can! It will take both of them to deal with this."

The small bird simply nodded and flew out of the broken window; Itachi narrowed his eyes before turning to Yugao and sighing. "Kihana is outside waiting for you… Go to her. …I will deal with this."

Yugao could only nod, sealing away her katana, before rushing out and embracing the young girl, who was just now a few feet outside the door. The said girl was surprised that her mother came out and was worried that she was going to get punished for not staying put. But now… "Mommy… Why are you crying?"

Choking, not being able to answer, Yugao's cry doubled. She couldn't control it any longer… She had loved her husband so much and to find out… To find out in such a way that he was a traitor… And that he could possibly be the reason her friend might not make it…

She couldn't stand it.

Itachi watched Yugao out of the corner of his eye, letting her grief consume him for only a moment and allowing his eyes morphing into their ultimate form, before dispersing into darkness. He had a job to do…

And he would make Hayate pay for hurting Anko and Yugao.

* * *

**A/N**: Okay, I know there is going to be a lot of WTFs here but this had been a planned moment even from my original script. I just fixed it a little differently to reveal to Itachi instead of Naruto that Hayate was the spy.

As for him being Danzo's spy, if you remember way back in chapter six the Third had a strong suspicion that it was Danzo who was leaking out vital information to others he knew would do something and many others agreed but they just didn't have any evidence. There is still no evidence so Yugao saying it still holds no accreditation.

Naruto's new technique is still a little of an experiment, for him anyways. I haven't really shown it, for the chapters leading up to this point were focused on his team, but he has been working on it since the run in with Hidan and Kakuzu. I will start explaining it more in upcoming chapters, hopefully, for he is going to use it a few more times.

Finally, the last thing I'm going to explain in these notes, Tsunade's attachment to Naruto at the end of their last scene. I hope I made that convincing enough that she saw enough of herself in him and then to see him rise above his own pain made her see the images of those close to her within him.

Anyways… I hope you enjoyed the chapter and if you have any questions or comments I'll get back to you.

Peace Out.


	24. Losing a Father

"Ugh..." Naruto groaned and even though he had just awoke he was very aware of his surroundings. "The next time I go through the seventh layer of hell... Please stop me from doing something that retarded."

"I would... But I can't figure out what you're going to do next! You are one surprising ninja." Jiraiya's voice responded and even though everything was blurry he could see that white and red figure was grinning at him. "To actually succeed where my sensei and I have failed to do over the last fifteen years and convince Tsunade to return..."

"Ugh...Stop speaking and get me some aspirin. I have a massive headache and your voice isn't making it any better." Naruto groaned out, his vision slowly flickering to normal but with the migraine he was dealing with it might take a few minutes.

Grumbling at his unappreciative apprentice, Jiraiya sighed and went and opened the door. "He's up... And it seems like he has a hangover from hell."

Jiraiya stood no chance. He was flattened by everyone else in the hotel room, first in line being Tsunade. And then she went back to the end of the line and continued stopping on the toad sannin for good measure. It never hurt to make sure he was grounded.

Once she felt a little better, Tsunade turned her attention to Naruto who know was being used as a demonstration to Sakura by Shizune. "While headaches, migraines and hangovers are relatively easily to take care of it take a good knowledge of who the brains works..."

"I'm all for Sakura learning from you two... But I'm not a fucking guinea pig! Just tell her the fundamentals later and she'll figure it out!" Naruto growled out, wanting to screech at them for this was the worst headache he ever had to deal with before.

"Wake up on the wrong side of the bed, did we?" Shizune hummed before she moved her glowing hand over Naruto's head before frowning. "Well that was interesting... All the nerves within your brain were... Well fried. Not in the sense that they stopped working but just in that they were over stressed."

Wincing a little at the sudden brightness in the room and taking a moment to adjust, Naruto blinked a few times before sighing. "Yeah... That sounds about right. I haven't worked out all the kinks yet..."

"This have to deal with you new flash?" Jiraiya said suddenly, popping up like he was never hurt in the first place, the sage sighed seeing Naruto simply nod in response. "Well it is what we figured... I knew there would be some side effects on the brain. Let's thank our lucky stars they were only mild."

"A new flash?" Kerlya was the first to pick up on this with wide eyes and turned to Naruto. "Are you really suggesting that...?"

"No, it is not the flash. It is a technique that I'm creating to replace it. Quite simply... I'm trying to reinvent Hiraishin without a marker." Naruto commented now he was fully functional and not suffering the migraine from the seventh layer of hell.

"To recreate it... Without the marker?" Tsunade questioned, attempting to grasp the concept but was failing rather horribly for she didn't even grasp the concept of the Flying Thunder God outside the fact it acted somewhat like a reverse summoning.

Shaking his head, Naruto threw off his covers, not caring that he was mostly undressed outside of boxers, and founded his clothing. Sliding it on, ignoring the massive blushes from both Kerlya and Sakura, the blonde noticed one thing about the attire that was odd. "What the..."

"Oh that... Yeah I gave it to you." Tsunade mentioned once Naruto had lifted her necklace from his pile of stuff. "It is to signify the trust I'm placing on you as the new Hokage. You know... To get stuff done and fix a lot of the shit the others caused and Minato didn't get the time to clean it up."

Despite her short explanation, Naruto simply nodded in understanding. The necklace to her was a symbol of her hope... Her hope for the future of Konoha for that was what he was. Once he returned... He would prepare his undertaking to become the Godaime.

The next thing that caught his eye was a scroll. Just by the look of the seal though... "If I had to take a guess those would be Samehada and Kisame gave it to me with some last request so he could rest in peace."

"Yeah... How in the hell did you know that though? You were out cold." Jiraiya twitched at Naruto for somehow knowing exactly what had Kisame had said and done.

"Same thing happened with Zabuza in the Wave Country. His request of me was to be the strongest and to take care of his blade." Naruto commented before revealing and unsealing another scroll, catching the head chopping sword in one hand. "But it will be a few years before I can properly wield these blades. I'm too short to use them efficiently."

Sealing the giant sword away and putting away both scrolls, Naruto turned to Jiraiya. "So what was it? The one thing I know is that the mist swordsman hold respect beyond anything else and I intend to value that trait."

"Madara." Was all Jiraiya need to say before Naruto's eyes narrowed at the mention of the Uchiha's name.

"I see..." Naruto refrained from growling and shaking his head. Everything seemed to be coming back to Madara lately and this was not a good thing. If this kept up he would have a run in with the man soon... And he hoped he was ready for him.

"Is everyone more or less ready...? I would like to head back home soon. I probably have an annoyed girlfriend waiting for me back home." Naruto scratched at his temple for he knew Yugito was going to be rather ticked at him.

But then she will be very happy with him once Jiraiya handed over that check...

Watching as everyone left the room to go get there things, having everything more or less packed, Naruto narrowed his eyes. A very tiny chakra signature was heading his way. One he recognized as one of Itachi's messenger ravens. Immediately opening the window, the said bird was moving at top speed towards him.

Moving to let the bird in, Naruto kept his poise and simply figured there was a mild emergency. Probably along the lines of having a run in with Kushina. However he was immediately proved wrong once the bird caught its breath. "Trouble! Trouble! The snake has made his move! Lord Itachi needs you to return immediately with Lady Tsunade! Anko has been caught injected with a new poison that affects her seal!"

"WHAT?" Naruto roared out at the bird, almost grabbing it and wanting to pluck its feathers and cook it like Yugito did to that poor blue bird so many years ago. "What do you mean she's been poisoned? And why can't the remove it?"

"I don't know sir!" The bird panicked for the only thing worse than his master angry was this blonde when he was pissed. "All I know is that it is affecting the seal and any attempts to remove are forcing the seal to react! Itachi needs either you or Lord Jiraiya to return to seal it and Tsunade to remove the poison. It has almost been a day!"

Without another word, Naruto burst from his room and flared out his senses to find Tsunade. Seeing she was just next door in her hotel room with Jiraiya, he knocked his open and was about to knock hers in when Tsunade opened the door. "What the hell is going...?"

"We're heading to Konoha now! I need your help to save my nee-chan... That snake has poisoned her with something that reacts to the curse seal! Itachi didn't plant one of my kunai so we have to make haste!" Naruto growled out, not having time to explain this for they needed to leave now.

Realizing the situation, Tsunade turned straight to Jiraiya and Shizune. "Shizune, take care of the kids while we're gone and make sure I didn't leave anything behind! Jiraiya, you need to stay here with them but make sure they hurry back at a quick pace."

"Let's go!" Tsunade turned to Naruto and already noted he was outside the room and running down the hall.

Quickly tailing him, glad that she was the fastest of the sannin for the blonde teen was moving at an incredible speed. To her dismay it seemed he wasn't running at full speed and instead was keeping a pace that he knew she could follow. That was a little disheartening to see that one of her greatest attributes and he completely out classed her.

Still there was no time to think about any of this before she caught up to Naruto. "Alright, if I have to take a guess your sister is Anko... And if I remember correctly she was marked with the first successful seal. And if Orochimaru has created a poison for it..."

"It came from the original source of the curse... Now if we could only find out what that was." Naruto acknowledged Tsunade's trail and knew that having the original source would benefit them. "But there is a problem... The snake fucker most likely keeps the source secured tightly and would have his best forces guarding it in his most hidden base. Finding it now is nigh impossible at this moment."

"Exactly... So for now I'm going to need you to seal it and I'll deal with the poison the best I can. Chakra poisons aren't very easy to deal with and can't be extracted in the same process normal poisons or neurotoxins are. But we have to put finding the original source at top priority." Tsunade stated knowing that the odds of curing her of an unknown poison were low.

"I can guarantee it will be." Naruto growled and was not going to let Sarutobi deny him his hunt once Anko was in the clear.

Simply nodding and knowing there would be little conversation for the rest of the trip, if at all, Tsunade set her sights onto the road before her. Her eyes narrowed for a moment and a certain red head crossed her mind.

'Kushina... Why do I have a feeling that you played a role in this?'

* * *

Panting heavily, looking all around him attempting to find his attacker, he suddenly jumped forward and at that moment the tree behind him shattered into thousands of pieces when a glowing humanoid hand crushed it.

Turning his katana to the monstrous hand, he tossed dozens of shuriken into the arm but they did little more then bounce off. Not a single one penetrated and this worried him. But there was nothing as haunting to see what the hand stemmed from.

It was connected to a massive ghost like warrior, like that of a ronin samurai, and he barely had time to dodge the glowing sword. Just rolling out of the way, watching the tree that was stabbed instead of him be absorbed by the blade, his eyes widened and gazed at the core to see one man with rage visibly rolling off of him.

Uchiha Itachi.

"Gekkou Hayate... I suggest you surrender now or I will prolong this session. There is no escape, not even death. You will face the consequence of your betrayal." Itachi snarled, his now five point windmill like Sharingan staying perfectly still as its gaze pierced into him.

"Or..." Hayate couldn't help but shiver at this one word and took a step back from the raging Uchiha. But to his horror the great warrior dispersed around the Uchiha but the only thing that remained of him there was void of darkness.

Feeling the coolness of a blade pressed against the back of his neck, Hayate found that he couldn't stop himself from turning his head to see who was behind him only to see the red eyes of Itachi's Mangekyou. "I can make you suffer a thousand times greater than what my fiancée and you wife are going through!"

"Tsukiyomi!"

* * *

"What do you mean there is nothing we can do?" Yugito yelled out at the elderly man sitting at the desk before her, looking far more weathered and withered since the day he first retired and allow the Fourth take his place. "Anko is dying and you are saying is that we can't go out and look for the cure?"

Placing his hand over his face, glancing over at the neko vessel, Hizuren could only speak in a whisper. "We don't even know if there is a cure and even if there was we have no clue where to even start. We have only found have of Orochimaru's bases and I highly doubt he have found his most secret hideouts yet, the ones where he would most likely keep such a possible cure at or possibly the host of the poison."

Growling at the Third, Yugito clenched her fist tightly and the only thing restraining her from leaping over and grabbing the man's collar was the Anbu unit that jumped down feeling the tension within the room. "You honestly expect me to believe that you have no knowledge of where these bases might be located?"

Removing his hand from his face and gazing into Yugito's eyes shifting their color from emerald to gold, Sarutobi frowned deeply. "We may have a general idea of their location but we can't just storm their bases now to find out. This is a war Yugito and as much as I hate to say this... There will be causalities and sacrifices that must be made..."

"She will not be one of them!" Yugito hissed before a void of darkness bellowed at her side and Itachi dropped out of it before slamming Hayate's unconscious form on the ground beneath him.

"Danzo has been in contact with the snake however it was not through Hayate. ...Hayate was simply a spy for the snake this entire time along with Kabuto. And since Kabuto is our only lead, I request a tracking unit of the man immediately. He can possibly cure the poison or at the very least lead us to where the antidote or the source is."

"Denied." Itachi's Mangekyou narrowed at the Third hearing this before the Third sighed. "I need every last capable ninja here at the moment... For all we know this attack could simply be a feint and allow Orochimaru's true force to invade the village. And since Jiraiya or Naruto is not here at the moment I can send you out just yet. When one of them returns..."

"It might be too late! You said it yourself Tsunade might not want to come back so what if Naruto hasn't convince her yet? He can't and won't come back! And while no one really knows where Jiraiya went you can be assured he is there trying to help Naruto bring her back to the village!" Itachi slammed his hand onto the desk, ignoring the Anbu reaching for their katanas or ninjatos.

Hizuren was not happy. He knew that both Anko and Yugito would be insubordinate at the moment but he did not expect either to question his decisions. "We have to wait until they arrive then, Itachi. I can't take Orochimaru on alone any longer and who knows who else is in behind this! Perhaps Iwa or the Akatsuki for all we know! At least with both of us here we can put up a strong front and make anyone think twice about attacking!"

"And do you think I don't care for Anko's safety?" The Third spat out and stood from his seat, finally getting tired of this and was going to end it. "For you information I care for each and every damn shinobi and civilian under my watch, some more than others and Anko is one of them! She has been like a daughter for me since we brought her back! Do you have any idea how much it pains me to watch her writhe in agony and be able to do nothing?"

For one of the few times in his life, Itachi felt truly scared. He may have forgotten who he had been speaking to but there was no doubt this was the Professor, the God of Shinobi Sarutobi Hizuren and he was just enlightened by that fact. He may have lost his edge but he was still that man, without a doubt.

But his fear only lasted a second or two before Itachi simply gaze into his eyes. "Do you have any idea what Naruto would do if Anko were to die let alone what I would do? I don't think you would have to worry about Orochimaru with the two of us along with who knows how many other shinobi along with us."

Faltering at that statement, The Third Hokage's face grimaced. The last thing he needed was Itachi AND Naruto opposing him. His power would almost seize to exist for the civilians would stand by the Uchiha clan as they have done for so many years and the ninja population would follow Naruto.

That was the reason he named both as head ninja and his possible successors. It simply made his job easier and kept both sides of the council in agreement with one another. And if both were to oppose his power a civil war could erupt and he wasn't sure how much support he would get.

"Itachi..." Sarutobi stated and was about to enforce his rule upon him for he was still Hokage when the door burst open.

"Sir! Lord Namikaze and Lady Tsunade have arrived and are at the hospital as we speak!" The chunin, Haruno Yeshua he believed, loudly announced for he barely had time to check who both were before they stormed to the hospital.

"Finally! Itachi, consider your mission accepted now that Naruto has arrived. Take an Aburame and an Inuzuka with you and at least two more jounin class shinobi. Jiraiya should be on the way so inform him of this mission and have him lead the way if you can't find Kabuto. They can handle this and I'll aid them however I can." Hizuren responded before giving Itachi his order now that Naruto was back in the village.

"Yeshua, take these Anbu and inform everyone that Naruto has return for moral purposes! If there are any more spies this information will be leaked out to others and no one would dare attack now!" Sarutobi barked, stepping away from his desk before motioning his Anbu to follow Yeshua.

"I'm on it!" Yeshua replied before darting out of the room with the Anbu, Itachi and Yugito quickly follow pursuit out of the office.

Noticing Yugito was following him, Itachi stopped and turned to her with narrowed eyes. "You are to stay here, Yugito. Naruto is going to need your support for without Anko I can't be sure anyone else really can truly comfort him. He trusts you more than anyone else."

Yugito was livid. She already had failed and was unable to protect Anko and now she was being told that she could go out and do anything to help her. "The hell I am! I'm not just going to sit around and..."

"Consider it an order, Yugito!" Itachi hissed out and his Mangekyou bore into her emeralds. "I won't hesitate if it will keep you here. For all we know this could reset Naruto back to before you came along if you aren't here to help him and that is the last thing that we need right now! So you are staying here!"

Without another word, Itachi dispersed into an abyss and left Yugito rather shaken. But before Sarutobi could say anything, she only shook her head feeling the third's presence. "He's right I know... But everything just seems to be falling apart all of a sudden... Right after Naruto left."

"Whether many people know or not... Naruto already shoulders a lot of the burdens of this village. His presence here not only lifts everyone's spirits... It keeps outside forces at bay for fear of retaliation. When he was gone and being attacked twice like this it has sent many into a panic." Hizuren answered in a sigh.

"He doesn't even know it yet but he practically is the Fifth Hokage already..." The current Hokage finished with a louder sigh before turning his attention to the hospital. "Let's go... Naruto and Tsunade might need our help."

Numbly nodding, not sure what to say, Yugito followed the Third. While there were so many things raging in her mind all her thoughts slowly and finally turned to one and she began to worry for only him. "Naruto..."

* * *

"Alright, I want to know exactly everything you've found out about Mitarashi Anko's condition stat!" Tsunade barked, barging into the room and shaking the floor along with surprising every single medic that currently was occupying the floor Anko was located on.

There was only one that wasn't terrified that this was some kind of attack and had to sigh out in relief.

Mikoto quickly strode to Tsunade before taking a clip board from a nearby medic trying to examine it and handed it to the slug sannin. "This is what we have diagnosed from the toxin so far. I've never seen one like it before because it is strictly attacking the chakra within her seal and attempting to force it out into the rest of the body. If that is to happen it will surely kill her."

"Removing it isn't working but there are very few among the medics here that actually know how to remove chakra specific poison and I just became one of them." Mikoto flashed her Sharingan for a second for she had copied the said technique. "Even now within stasis the poison is still active and slowly eating away at the barrier between her chakra and the cursed seal."

"And once that happens both her chakra will merge rapidly and it will be too late to do anything. Has anyone tried any seals yet?" Tsunade spoke while she looked over the information and couldn't help but grimace for this did not look good.

"Every seal we have tried has been counter productive. Evil Sealing Method, every kind of elemental and trigram seal we know seem to force the agent to reproduce faster and tear what little defense she has left. At this rate she will die in little less then a week if we don't do anything else." Mikoto grimaced as she noticed Naruto.

Tsunade also bit her lip. Hearing that immediately sounded alarms in her mind meaning that this poison was specifically designed to counter these measures. And there were only a few people in the world that could possibly make such poisons and could have an antidote and Orochimaru was one of them. "Shit! It must be triggered to respond to such attempts..."

"Whoever was expecting this knew I would be out of town... And knew that it would take a massive amount of chakra to safely save her." Naruto growled before he stormed to Anko's room and flung the door open. "Everyone out unless you have any knowledge of extraction seals!"

"Extraction?" Tsunade nearly wanted to yell out at the blonde for being in such a hurry before she caught his gaze. "Of course! The poison specifically targets the curse seal so by extracting... What the hell are you going to seal the curse into? Further more not even Jiraiya has successfully created a seal that can remove Orochimaru's curse!"

"I've done my research into it... And I might have a way to take the curse from her and place it within another host. As for the host... I'll be sealing it within myself. I'm the only one that can possibly survive taking both the curse and the poison if it follows." Naruto responded without hesitation and pulled out a bottle of ink and a brush.

"What? Are you insane?" Tsunade screeched at the blonde haired jinchuuriki as he ignored her. "Do you know how many things could go wrong if you succeed or how many could go wrong if you fail? And secondly if it is successfully there is no guarantee that you'll be able to survive it even if you let Kyuubi attempt to purge the poison!"

"What's going on in here?" Hizuren arrived with Yugito only to hear Tsunade screaming at Naruto for doing something reckless.

Seeing her sensei and another she did not know, Tsunade simply pointed her finger at Naruto and yelled at him. "This stupid fool is going to try and extract the curse seal since the poison is only reacting to it! And of all things to seal it into he's going to seal it into himself! He isn't even Hokage yet and he's ready to sacrifice himself like he is!"

"Whether you agree with me or not this is the best plan there available at this time. Tsunade I will need you to focus on removing the poison from her body in case it decides to attack her normal chakra if it does not transfer to me." Naruto took her screeches in stride and had moved Anko's bed to the side so he could finish making the seal.

"Old man, Yugito... I'm going to need you both to back me up with your chakra to help extract the cursed chakra into me. I may have enough on my own but I need to keep a good portion to combat the curse and if will need to transform if the poison comes along with it." Naruto continued while he finished the overall design and was making small adjustments and tweaks to it.

Frowning at hearing this and noting how many people were watching, Hizuren simply nodded. "How much chakra is needed to perform the extraction?"

"About an eight of yours, a third of Yugito's and a twentieth of own chakra should be more than enough." Naruto stated before checking the seals and nodding to himself. "Everything is set... Bring An..."

Naruto's eyes suddenly rolled to the back of his head before the Third caught him by the back of his shirt collar. "Sorry my boy... But I can't let you sacrifice yourself just yet. This village needs you more than it does me."

"What the hell was that about?" Yugito screamed out but being held back by Tsunade who looked at her sensei with wide eyes.

"Sensei... Do you know what you're..."

"I know full well of the consequence and I accept them. There needs to be a human host for this procedure and with everything that can go wrong no one should be forced to suffer through it. I allow will take it and if the poison is past onto me... The Godaime will take over for me for I can't let him do this. This village needs him more then it does me." Sarutobi cut Tsunade off before motioning to Anko.

"Put her in the center of the main seal... Yugito I will need you for support and you too, Kakashi. No one else has the chakra necessary for this for Tsunade has to deal with any poison left in Anko's body." Hizuren ordered before laying Naruto where Anko used to be, Tsunade carefully lifting the snake mistress to the seal.

Checking to make sure she was properly placed, having a good knowledge of seals being the Professor and all, and made a few slight adjustments before kneeling within the secondary outer seal. "Kakashi, Yugito place your hands directly on the main seal at three and nine o'clock from my position and on my mark begin flowing your chakra into the seal."

"Tsunade, check Anko's stasis immediately after the sealing is finished and my seal is set. Otherwise there may be complications and someone could be infected." Sarutobi said to the slug sannin, softly smiling at her despite noticing the slight fear building on her face. "Don't worry about me... I can see where you faith lies now so place it all within him."

Tsunade's jaw almost came undone having almost having forgotten she gave Naruto her necklace in the heat of the moment before turning to the unconscious blonde and solemnly nodded. "Right... I'll do what I can do if it gets transferred to you once I'm done with Anko."

"Good... Yugito, Kakashi... Are you ready?" Hizuren barked out at the two and turned his attention entirely onto Anko and waited for their response.

"I'm ready... I'll try to keep our flows equal." Kakashi stated, moving his headband up and reveal his Sharingan so he could measure the flow of chakra everyone was using.

Still a little nervous about what she was being asked to do; Yugito took a deep breath before nodding. "I'm good... I can do this."

"Start channeling your chakra into the seal at a moderate pace. We can't go too fast or slow for this." The Third stated before he slowly began flowing his chakra into his portion of the seal and both Kakashi and Yugito quickly followed.

Matching his flow with the Third's, Kakashi grimaced as chakra outage from the seal was a little bright before turning to Yugito. Noting that her side was a little weaker, he snapped at her. "Yugito! Raise your chakra outage up a notch! I'll tell you when to stop!"

Gritting her teeth, she slowly began to channel more chakra into slowly before Kakashi gave her the signal. "Good! Keep at that flow for as long as you can! We should..."

Kakashi was caught off by a violent flare of malevolent chakra bursting form Anko and surging straight into the Third Hokage. Kakashi and Yugito were barely able to keep their palms down from the sheer force of the burst.

Hizuren was caught off guard by the outage and the burning of the chakra but he held tough and bit his lip and continued to draw in the cursed chakra form Anko.

He could feel that the poison was coming along with it. Each and every ounce of the alien chakra that was invading his body was pure agony. He knew pain well but this was far beyond what he could expect and he unfortunately knew this wasn't just from the poison and knew it was because of the cursed seal.

Being ready to tell Tsunade to check him once she was finished with Anko, Sarutobi's eyes widened from another powerful burst from Anko. This time, however, neither Kakashi nor Yugito were able to keep their flow and were knocked back.

Sarutobi wasn't ready to take the full burden onto his own so quickly and grimaced at the sigh of the seal beginning to meld and slowly disintegrate. Even if he forced all his chakra into this he could not stop this.

But in that instant another set of hands slapped the top of the seal and a wave of seals began to spread from his hands and neutralize and fix all the abnormalities in an instant while keeping the chakra flow consistent. Turning his head to see who it was Hizuren's eyes stared into narrowed blues.

"Foolish... This sacrifice wasn't yours to make." Naruto easily matched the Third's and began to raise the flow to match the amount needed to draw the cursed chakra from Anko. "I had the highest probability of surviving even if the poison came along with it."

"I know that... But that isn't why I did it." The Sandaime responded, a slight smile on his face despite the pain of the cursed chakra and poison flowed into him. "Naruto... You are too important to this village to allow anything to cripple or end your life now. If you were to fall so would we... That is what being the King in the game of shoji does..."

"After that night eight years ago... I decided the fate of Konoha and placed it solely on your shoulders. Whether it stood or it crumbled to the ground... It resided on what you did for only you had the right to save this village or curse it for eternity." Sarutobi told, his eyes locked with Naruto's own and never strayed.

"It was a gamble for sure but I set everything up that I could to draw forth your maximum potential while attempting to bring out your humanity again. It was a long shot but I had made my decision and if Konoha burned for it then so be it. However something happened that I couldn't count on... Something wonderful."

"The cloud sought forgiveness instead of retribution for the lost of their head ninja and in their forgiveness they sent an angel to us... An angel that soon as she arrived began to bring out your humanity once more... First it was simply sadness and anger but it grew and now things like love and jealousy are no longer foreign to you."

Both Naruto and Yugito were looking at the Hokage in shock, the former just barely able to keep his flow of chakra in the seal while he listened. "She was able to do what no one else could do and allowed you to come back and become this village's savior instead of its destroyer."

"For that... Yugito I thank you from the bottom of my heart." The Hokage finally broke his gaze from and looked at the neko vessel before finally turning back to Naruto. "You will become the greatest Hokage this village will ever now... For I can't see anyone that could be better then you."

"You're not dead yet old man! Mikoto!" Naruto barked out feeling the extraction was almost finished and set. "Bring in every available medic that can remove chakra poison now! The seal will be set in a matter of moments and there won't be much time!"

"Belay that. That is an order." Hizuren grimaced as the last of the cursed chakra was sealed into him along with a good portion of the toxin. "My life is at an end already... I've accepted that much long before this moment. It is time for me to step down and allow a wise young man to take my place."

"Naruto... Take care of Konoha for me. I leave it in your hands." Sarutobi smiled once last time before he closed his eyes and focused onto the seal that had been flowing onto his body. "Seal!"

In a bright flash of white light that temporarily blinded everyone, a thud hit the ground and as their vision returned two things could be seen. The curse mark was no longer on Anko and the pain that seemed to trouble her unconscious body had seemingly vanished. The second was...

The Sandaime was dead.

"NO!" Naruto screamed out and was quickly intercepted by Yugito, embracing him into a tight hug so there would be no way for him to break out.

Mikoto along with almost every other medic ran to the Hokage's side, Tsunade being the except for she was working on removing the last of the contagion from Anko now that it had no where to go. But only after a moment they could only bow their heads. "He's gone... There is nothing we can do."

"NO!" Naruto screamed once more, thrashing in Yugito's grip while his gaze stayed focused onto the lifeless form of the deceased Hokage. "HE CAN'T BE! HE'S TOO DAMN STRONG... TOO DAMN STUBBORN TO DIE!"

"Naruto! He's gone!" Yugito strengthened her embrace and forced the younger vessel's gaze to her chest. "He's gone... There is nothing you can do."

Trying to break free of her grip to get to the Hokage's side, Naruto thrashed but to no avail. His strength had seemingly been sapped and was unable to break Yugito's hold before falling to his knees. "No! I can still..."

"Naruto please..." Yugito begged as she fell with him, keeping him tightly embraced and not wanting to let him go. "It's okay to feel hurt... To feel helpless... Just let it out. There is nothing else that can be done."

Her voice had never sounded like this before. While she could be soft and tender and her voice reflected that it never sounded quite like this. It wasn't motherly like he had heard from Anko or Kyuubi... This was something different. Something that... That made him feel less concerned about hiding.

And he really wanted to hide right now. To run away and never return... He had just lost a man he considered a father.

Tears began following from his eyes and his head buried into Yugito's chest. He tried his best to keep them down but the came like rivers and nothing could stop them. And for the first time in eight years Konoha had heard something it had not before.

The sound of Naruto crying.

* * *

**A/N**: There is the ending to the emotional chapter. This arc will finally end next chapter and while there won't be time skip to signify it this one will be over as Naruto first few orders of business as the Godaime need to be gone over.

Hizuren dying at this moment was a heat of the moment thing but it is better for the story overall. Originally I had Orochimaru killing him in the war and then I had him dying at Pein's hands. But in the end this just seemed right with the story and the right way to hand the reigns over to Naruto.

What will happen to Hayate will be explained next chapter along with Yugao's and Kihana's reactions. Since there isn't really much else to go ever with if you have any other questions or comments drop them by me and I'll do my best to respond.

Peace Out.


	25. The Path of a Hokage

It was a solemn day for all of Konoha. Every person wore black and wore formal attire, at least for ninjas, dressed. There was only one exception and it was not Gai, Lee and Jiraiya as they were wearing black clothing and not their normal wear.

There was hardly a sole missing; the few that were missing were either on guard duty or patrol. The only one that truly did not attend was Danzo, a well known rival of the Third Hokage's. It was no surprise that he was attending.

What was a surprise was who was standing before the casket, wearing the formal wear of the Hokage but with a hat tip over his eyes to give him a moment to clear his eyes of tears. It was Namikaze-Mitarashi Naruto who had been named Godaime Hokage of Konoha hours after the death of the Third and was accepted by both the jounin and the council, with only a few protesting.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto shook his head once. He wasn't so sure why he was nervous but he just happened to be. It could be the fact that he didn't like talking to people but a speech really wasn't a conversation so he guessed he could do this.

"Good morning on the solemn occasion. …As you all know we are gathered here to pay our respects to a great leader of these lands and a shinobi that was feared world wide as the God of Shinobi." Naruto began, his eyes closed and his hat still tipped over his face.

Slowly lifting it and allowing his stormy blue eyes gaze upon the gather crowd, the vessel of the nine tails sighed. "Many of you already know this however. Many of you also knew the man to be extraordinarily kind and would do anything for his people whether it was donating some money to an orphanage, help an ailing academy student and would give his life just to save one person."

"He indeed deserves to be hailed among the greatest of shinobi of Konoha and revered as a hero. He saved countless lives on and off the battle field and kept us safe from the nightmare known as war many times. He truly was a man of peace and gave everything including his life for that purpose so maybe that one day… Everyone might understand one another and stop this useless blood shed."

Taking a deep breath, still fighting to keep from shedding tears before the mass, a single tear rolled down his cheek as he closed his eyes. "He is a man that I will try my hardest to follow in his foot steps and be a good Hokage. For not only was he a feared shinobi and great leader with boundless love and kindness for his fellow comrades and citizens… He was like a father to me."

"This isn't well known but… He is the reason I ever bothered to become a ninja of this village for at one point I just did not care and was fed up with the hatred." Naruto's face hardened and his eyes darkened at this revelation. "I had lost nearly every emotion possible and my humanity was non-existent but the old man never stopped showering me with love."

"He brought others into my life that I now deeply care for and with their help he managed to pull me free from my darkest hour and helped me take the right path. For it is easy to get lost into darkness and let it consume you… But it takes true strength and resolve to travel down the rough road of life." Naruto finished telling his story and looked up at the sky above and did something he rarely ever did.

He smiled.

"Not a day goes by now where I don't thank him for what he did for me. …I'm sure many of you have stories of what he has done for you and while they might not be anything like my own remember him by them. Take your time and remember the man that cared for this village for better then half his life." Naruto wrapped his speech up before taking a step back and kneeling before the casket.

"Old man… You were right. I will protect this village like you had for so long. Maybe not everyone will like me nor would he like all of them but… This village is worth it. There are many good people that live here and I will do everything I can for them." Naruto silently spoke to the fallen Hokage, still adorning his smile.

Standing and turning back to the crowd, lightly bowed. "If you wish, you may come up and pay your last respects before he will be buried. I take my leave for there are things I must do."

Turning from them and tilting his hat downwards to cover his face so that no one could see it, Naruto's face hardened and his eyes narrowed for this he would not enjoy.

The trial of Gekkou Hayate was scheduled in twenty minutes and he had to talk to the man before that.

* * *

"I knew you would come… Lord Hokage." Hayate sighed, smiling pitifully as he looked up to see his former student standing before his cell. "If I had to guess… You want to know why, am I right?"

Naruto didn't say a word for he knew Gekkou would tell him. Whether or not he wanted to made no difference. The man did not hide anything from him when asked, nor to his wife or daughter. Yet they never asked or could even suspect that their man was a spy for Orochimaru and one of the culprits of informing the outside world of Konoha's problems.

"Where to start…" Hayate sighed and didn't even bother with his fake cough. "Every day I can't believe it myself… I can't understand why I would betray the village I love… The people I love… Yet here I am, convicted and guilty of treason."

"Everything started when I was young and I was placed on Orochimaru's gennin team with Anko and our class star and early graduate, Yugao. I never saw Orochimaru in a bad light… He was a good man to me and taught me many valuable things." Hayate finally began to explain himself.

"But in that trust… It was never severed even after Yugao and I become chunin on our first try while Anko had to stay behind due to getting a bad draw and facing the jinchuuriki of the Waterfall. We could hardly believe what happened over the next year when he abandoned the village kidnapped Anko."

"I suppose you can say that our trust was never broken… No, my trust was never broken. Yugao believed everything Anko said but… I couldn't. Orochimaru was my hero from the first day I met him. In the end he manipulated that trust of mine and used me against my own village." Hayate shifted a little in his shackles, uncomfortable with the situation.

"Despite knowing what I was doing I kept giving his informants what they wanted and once I found out what really was going on I was in too deep. I couldn't get out for now they held something against me… The life of my daughter. I know how strong I am and how great our village defenses are but if Orochimaru wants someone dead… They're dead and I couldn't let him threaten Kihana or Yugao like that."

Taking a deep and closing his eyes then actually coughing from the dusty air, Gekkou Hayate locked his gaze with his former student's. "Do not pity me. I don't want any mercy because of this. I am willing to face the gallows without fear for what I did is unforgivable. The only thing I want from you is the same thing I wanted from you every time I left this village."

"Take care of Yugao and Kihana for me. They are the world to me and they are the reason for my treason, nothing more." Hayate told Naruto for he knew that the blonde would.

"I'll give you my word they will be safe… And your sentence will be known soon enough." Naruto steeled his voice to neutrality, finding the act far more difficult than it normally was for this was his sensei, one of those he care for the most.

But his actions against his village were unforgivable and he could not show mercy for this would be the first test of his reign. But yet… What would the old Hokage have done?

Turning from Hayate, simply nodding at the guard for it was almost time, Naruto exited the cell rooms and strode to the signature he had felt nearby. Stopping once he arrived, he simply turned to her and shook his head. "You shouldn't be here… I don't want you to see this."

"I'm going to see it Naruto… I have to know." Yugao growled out, her eyes narrowed at the young Hokage. "You heard his story… And you're going to go through with this? He may not be an innocent man but he doesn't deserve to be executed like all those pompous clans heads and fucked up civilian councilmen think!"

"Whether he is executed or another sentence is given… It is all up to me." Naruto coldly responded before he gazed into Yugao's brown eyes. "And unfortunately he is my first act as Hokage and I can appear weak hearted to anyone and you damn well know the consequence if I do show it!"

"So you're going to make him a martyr, is that it? After everything he did for you, Hana and Miko… After taking care of me and naming you godfather of our child you're just going to let him be fried?" Yugao screamed and with drew her katana, almost ready to strike.

It shattered into pieces with a simple flick of Naruto's hand before he gripped her by her collar and pulling her face to his, standing off his own Anbu guards as he did so. "Listen to me here Yugao… Do not think you are the only one that is _**hurting **_and is _**enraged **_by this! But dammit I am Hokage now and I know what must be done and you will listen to me as a kunoichi of Konoha, do you understand?"

Letting her go and turning to his Anbu, Naruto motioned to continue forward to their destination. But after one step he almost stopped his heart. Something he never wanted to hear from anyone that he was close to. Three words that made his heart clench tightly and pain tear through his entire body.

"I hate you… I fucking hate you!" Yugao screamed at his retreating form, all her bottled up anger and pent up grief exploding from her very being.

Stopping, waving his Anbu off, Naruto slowly turned his head to Yugao with his eyes gleaming with sympathy and anguish. "Yet I still love you, Yugao. And I always will for you were there for me in my darkness when only a few others like you saw me for what I truly was."

"I will do what I must… Just remember that, Yugao." Naruto turned with a heavy heart and headed to the council chambers for the trial would begin soon.

* * *

"Gekkou Hayate. You are charged with treason of the highest degree. You are also hereby charged with multiple accounts of supplying vital information to an S-rank felon, endangering the life of a kunoichi of Konoha, nearly killing them, and indirectly the cause of the death of one Sarutobi Hizuren. How do you plead to these charges?" Homura announced to the accused now standing before him in a rather dull and emotionless tone.

There were few people there for this was a closed trial and the public was not allowed to know of. Outside the Hokage and the council members only direct family of Hayate was allowed to enter. There for only Yugao was present, not wanting Kihana to see her father like this.

Standing along side two Anbu with their blades ready, almost as if expecting an execution, Hayate took a deep breath before he looked upon to the council seated before him. "I plead guilty on all charges and hold myself responsible for everything I have done. You may do what you will of me."

"I see. Very commendable of you." Koharu kept her voice cool and collected before glancing down at the Hokage. "Now all that we must decide is a punishment. Seeing as the majority here agrees we will get this over with quickly…"

"You are in no position to order and execution. You will steady and sheath your swords men." Naruto cut off Koharu off before his gaze turned to the two in question.

Neither Anbu said a word and did like they were told, watching their Hokage stand from the front most seat and turn before the council. "I believe it is time to get things in order first… I should like to remind you this is a dictatorship and the only word that matters in the end is mine."

"Now despite this I welcome the council for its years of experience and wisdom and allow you wield your power over the populace. I will simply say that anything that involves shinobi will run through me and if I let alone hear of one of you going behind my back on such matters there will be swift consequences and treason may well be involved." Naruto stated, his gaze falling to Danzo for a moment but this notion was to everyone.

"If any of you have a problem with this or wish to speak with me in private, make an appointment with my receptionist. As I'm said I welcome you for your experience and wisdom and will need it to help guide through these first few years. But I will make it a point that this is now my village and my word is law." He finished and without another word turned and drew his ninjato from beneath his own cloak.

"Gekkou Hayate!" Naruto bellowed, turning to the chained man and placing his blade at his throat. "You are guilty of treason and are willing to accept any consequences that follow. Are you sure of that?"

"Yes… I'm willing to accept my fate." Hayate spoke without a hint of fear and closed his eyes, waiting for the metal to rip through his throat. Yet it never came.

Removing his sword from the prisoner's throat, Naruto gazed once at Yugao before it was fully upon Hayate once more. "For the next thirty years of your life, fifteen to twenty if you show good behavior. Not only this I will have your chakra coils destroyed by way of jyuken and have you sent to Interrogation and Torture to have your muscles breakdown until you are weaker then an average civilian man."

"For the first year you will have only one hour of visiting time with your wife and child each day and only thirty minutes alone with your wife every month until she either passes away finds a new man." Naruto continued with his sentence. "But I won't be kind enough to just let you sit there and rot during this time."

"Each and every day you will be forced to labor in the mines to the north for coal and other precious minerals with an Anbu squad watching you ever second to make sure you don't run and to keep you from dying. I don't want you dying for I want you to live through every day of your punishment." Naruto finished with his eyes angrily boring into Hayate's.

"Guards, take him to his cell. Hiashi, I want two of your clansmen to arrive at his cell at ten tonight to destroy his coils. They will be paid in full for an S-rank mission and if needed they may have free counseling sessions afterwards." Naruto ordered the Anbu and the Hyuuga head.

Allowing the Anbu to take Hayate from the room, Naruto turned his gaze back towards the council. "Unless there is any other business to discuss, this meeting is adjourned. We will meet tomorrow at eight in the morning to discuss our further plans with the Sound and our current dealing with the Cloud's resistance force."

While he left room for someone to speak, no one seemed to do so and they seemed more than eager to leave. Well, a few did at the very least. A few of the clan heads simply tilted their heads towards him and left. The only three that did not do so were Itachi, Tsume and Hiashi and the latter walked over to the blonde Hokage.

"I will send of two of my clansmen at that time… But may I ask why suck a sentence? While you made it seem like you were being ruthless to many of the more inexperience members of the council, I could clearly see you were being merciful. We all know he was your sensei… And I hope that did not cloud your judgment." Hiashi commented, wanting to alert to Naruto that a good few saw through his act and he was one of him.

Naruto's gaze simply turned to Yugao, who was still looking at him in an unexplainable manner and had stopped at the door hearing what Hiashi had said, he answered just loud enough so he knew she heard him. "I was being merciful… But not for him. His wife and child had nothing to do with this and I would be punishing them if I executed him. …Besides, my family is precious to me. No matter what I cannot be vicious to them like I can be with anyone else."

"Hayate may not be family… But she is. This punishment is to let her know I love her like I love my other sisters and mothers and would do anything for them… Even if it makes me look weak before the council." Naruto closed his eyes and tilted his hat over them. "Besides… I wasn't kidding about my threats. If Danzo or anyone else tries to make a move I might not be so lenient."

At that Hiashi shivered. That wasn't a threat by the young Hokage. That was the truth. Getting a trial would be the least of their concerns.

Shaking that off, Hiashi simply waved and turned to leave. Now that left Naruto with Itachi and Tsume, the former just coming up and patting him on the shoulder. "I'll keep the civilian members off your back best I can. Even with that threat I doubt they won't try something."

"See you later… Anko will bitch at me if I don't get her any dango soon. I just hope she likes mitarashi and anko flavored dango… Because I do!" Itachi gleamed before he suddenly found his nose was broken and he had a pet raven named Rodney circling around his head.

"Asshole of an Uchiha… Talking about bedding my nee-chan in front of me will he?" Naruto growled at the downed Uchiha, completely missing the fact that they were actually flavors of dango, before turning to Tsume. "And what is your reason to talk to me? Hiashi and Itachi pretty much covered the necessities."

"That they did… However this has nothing to do about any of this." Tsume smiled for a moment before her face dropped and became serious. "I was told you know of your sister… And I know you will be sending a mission out soon to try and take her back from Orochimaru's grasp. I would just like to let you know… I want to be on that unit. I know and still remember her scent and can find it if she's nearby."

"Then you shall be on that mission when I can afford to send a unit out. However that will not be for at least a few months with everything piled up as it is for the moment. Maybe a month if I can get my clones to sort everything out." Naruto groaned for he knew that was going to be a problem and a half.

The Third had been seriously behind in his paper work and it was causing him hell in these first few days. How he would like to go back in time and smash his face in just before he died. He was beginning to see paper work truly was the devil. "Thank Kami almighty for Shadow Clones."

Tsume couldn't help but bark out in laughter. "Oh you will see soon enough why the old man didn't use them?"

"I already know… But I can deal with it. After all doing all the papers and having a few to work on is better then having stacks upon stacks to deal with." Naruto grinned despite feeling a little gassed from all the tedious papers that were now stored in his memory.

When he crossed over he was going to have a word with both the old man and the First. And punch them right in the face for making him do this.

Couldn't he just assign people to do that work for him? He was the Hokage for crying out loud!

* * *

"Today's my first day in office and I can't get a break can I?" Naruto twitched, almost ready to hit the reset button himself and become emotionless and detached like he had been for a few years. "Now what is it that you want, Yugito?"

"Um... You called me here." Yugito dead panned before grinning seeing Naruto groaned rub his temples in annoyance. "But I do know of a few good stress relieving techniques to help you out... Too bad I can't use them! I wouldn't want to get you in trouble Lord Hokage."

Naruto wish he could kill with just his gaze. He was sure the intense glare he was giving the elder vessel would drop her in a heart beat. Not only did he forget that he had called her here in the first place she had to go and tease him before ruling out any possible forms of pleasure.

He could use an old fashion right about now...

"Yugito... I care for you and we're going out but I swear if you sexually taunt me like that again there will be hell to pay! I get enough of that from nee-chan and mother and right now I'm not in the mood for it." Naruto hissed before his voice dimmed down into an irate impassiveness.

Slightly wincing at this, enjoying the rise she got out of him before frowning at his darkened voice, the blonde sat on the side of the desk and smiled softly. "You did what you had to do. Hayate would have been punished far harsher if you or Itachi had not become Hokage and Yugao will forgive you in time."

Simply nodding, Naruto nearly jumped when a crackle on the intercom startled him before Mei Ling's voice came over the speaker. "Sir, the teams of the gennin that were promoted are here along with the jounin you requested."

Rubbing his temple once more, still trying to get use to this, Naruto pressed the button. "Please send them in and tell my next clients to wait if they arrive early. This shouldn't take long."

Standing from his seat after releasing the intercom, Naruto had enough of the robe and slid it off and tossed it on the coat rack along with his hat. He preferred to look like he normally did and didn't see why he had to wear those robes outside of formal occasions. The hat maybe the rest...

Taking his on the front of his desk, reminding himself to order a different chair for he didn't like the current one, Naruto crossed his arms and gazed upon the nine gennin and to Gai and Kurenai. "I believe you each know why I have called you here today so let us get down to business."

"Seeing that the only team still intact from these exams is your Kurenai I thought it would be best to call you to inform you that I've made some rearrangements. You will remain a jounin sensei but now will preside over a new team of gennin. So will Gai and you to... Yugito." Naruto stated gazed at the three jounin in his room and smiled at Yugito's small curse.

"Fine... I'll take over seeing that you can't now thanks to your new job." Yugito grumbled but knew that Naruto was intrusting her to take up his old team, or at least Sakura and Kerlya at the very least.

"The only objection I have is that I may keep Hinata in my current squad for I've been personally teaching her since the academy and I would like to continue to do so. I'm sure Gai would feel the same about Lee." Kurenai commented and Gai could only nod in agreement though he doubted Naruto made any significant changes.

"They both will remain on your teams, that I will give you." Naruto knew the bound between teacher and student and smiled lightly at both Sakura and Kerlya. "Sakura you will remain on team seven and will be joined by Kiba and Tenten. Yugito will be your new sensei since I am unable to continue training you extensively and will only be able to watch over the team from time to time."

"Kurenai... You will keep Hinata like I said but both Kerlya and Chouji will be joining your unit turning it into more of a physical assault squad with you to provide the long range back up. Gai you will have both Ino and Shino will join yours along side of Ino to form a reconnaissance unit." Naruto told his jounin and the gennin, smirking slightly informing Gai what kind of unit he was being given.

Gai wasn't too pleased for he preferred and assault or sweeping unit but he knew what Naruto was doing. Both were already well rounded in that aspect and he wanted him to increase their strength and speed to make their jobs just a little easier. And he also caught the hidden meaning of the team.

Tone down both his youthfulness and Lee's for one day it could cause dire consequences. Of course he knew this but Lee...

Kurenai wasn't too upset. She did loose Shino and Kiba but Kerlya easily replaced Kiba and would take command of her unit being an elite gennin now. Chouji wasn't the greatest fit but she knew that he Hinata was gentle close ranged fighter and Kerlya seemed to be a jack of all trades from what she saw in the finals. So in the end Chouji was almost the perfect fit to be the lead in their unit.

Yugito twitched for she had rather had Kerlya then Sakura. She could train Kerlya and Sakura had all her bases covered by her tutors and senseis. She liked Tenten for she already had the needed mentality that Kerlya still lacked and would be easy to coach. Kiba she wasn't so sure about for she did not get along with many of the Inuzuka now.

Yeizu was the cause of that thanks to him slandering her to his clan. Hana and Tsume could only do so much.

Getting no complaints, other then the dirty look from Yugito, Naruto simply nodded. "You may go and meet with one another. Team seven will however have to wait for tomorrow. Yugito is a part of this next mission. Sakura since you know the meeting place show it to the other two and Yugito will be there at our normal time."

"Oh... And before you go I would like each of you to know." Naruto snapped his fingers almost having forgotten and turned his focus onto the nine gennin. "While I may not be able to do much now as the Hokage I am still available for some training for each of you. It may be nothing more then a clone but if you need assistance you may ask me. A new jutsu or something like that we will have to discuss, however."

Smiling warmly at them, despite seeing that many were shocked he wouldn't mind teaching them a little, Naruto shook his head and turned to Yugito who was now sitting his chair. "Okay... Get a new chair. I don't see how old man Hizuren could sit in this thing. And start redecorating in her. This office should look how you want it."

"It was probably comfortable for his back." Naruto smirked for he had the same problem too. "And this office is how I want it. The only thing I would add would be painting of each Hokage at their greatest in the background and I've commissioned that Kurama girl to do them for me. ...And besides it will make everyone a little more comfortable with a familiar setting when their here."

"Fair enough... So what's this that we have to discuss? Unless this is personal I can't really fathom about what this could be about." Yugito commented before standing back up and popping her back into place. "Or maybe is it because you want an old fashion? You know I don't come cheep."

"Neither does Anko." Itachi suddenly said coming out of a pit of darkness, grinning at the two blushing blondes. "And try not to do that in here. I might just pop in and see some things I don't really want to... Like the fact I know he's hung like a moo..."

"Itachi... Do you want to know how a Rasengan in your ass feels like?" Naruto growled out forming the said orb of chakra in his hand and his eyes dangerously glinting towards him. "Or do you want to not be able to procreate after today? I'm fine with either for the first punishes you and the second takes care of nee-chan for telling that information to you!"

"As much as you want to do either of those we have a rather important meeting to attend to and I know Shikaku and the others are almost here." Itachi quickly came up with the best excuse he had to save himself from the pain that either punishment would deliver onto his being and forestall his judgment for later.

It was a difficult decision really.

Thankfully Naruto reigned in his anger when the door opened. Shikaku, Inoichi, Ibiki and Yamato all entered and formed a small circle around the center of the room before it was silenced by Naruto. "I'm sure the five of you know why I have called you here. But to clarify I will need each of your experience for this upcoming battle."

"We will be physically aiding E and the rebellion force in one month's time to help establish a friendly regime in the Cloud."

* * *

**A/N**: Well, that is the end of this chapter and arc. I'm leaving it on this for I don't want to reveal my plans just yet but no they won't be taking over the Cloud. They will simply be assisting for a few favors once E is in power.

There really isn't much for me to explain in this chapter so if you have any questions or comments like that I'll see what I can do my friends. Also since this is the end of the Arc so I will be taking a month off to get ahead again and let my beta catch up. So see you next month.

Peace Out.


	26. Arc 4 What Truly is Important

It has only been a month but... How he hated being Hokage.

Paperwork was a nightmare, while his clones could handle the papers he had to handle the mass amounts of feedback, which in the end made it still rather annoying. He understood why he needed to know these things and which petitions to stomp out or to let flourish. Yet the sheer amount of reports he got daily was simply ridiculous.

He was quite sure that he was going to prefer verbal reports far down the road...

Next was the gennins and their amazement that someone their age or younger was the Hokage. Many of the older gennin were ticked off by this fact and were disobedient and at times challenged his authority. After a slight display of power, a Rasengan decimating an entire office, they were slowly coming around.

The chunin weren't too far behind but accepted that he was the Hokage. They simply pulled some of the stupidest pranks he had ever seen and were always getting into trouble and causing a lot of the common villagers to complain to the Anbu so they would try to contain the little pranksters. Once he caught the ring leader...

Not even Ibiki would want to know what he did to him.

Thankfully nearly all the jounin and Anbu were very respectful of him, some even friendly, and felt like he was the best for the position. The only complaint Naruto had was each damn jounin had their personal quirks that annoyed him. Like he learned that Asuma lit up a cigarette no matter where he was, Kurenai constantly flirted with him and Genma's damn tooth pick fascination.

Jiraiya was also a pain in his ass and now he understood why Hizuren loved it when he was gone. There were so many damn complaints about peeping that he was just about to outright forbid Jiraiya from doing so again... That was when he realized why the Third never did.

The old man was bribed and now so was he. Thirty thousand ryo each update and a few of Jiraiya's own personal techniques was a sweet deal not to bust him. And besides, he didn't have to bust him.

All he had to do was to give Tsunade time off at the same time he knew the perv was peeping.

Speaking of his head medic, she was causing a little bit of a problem but it was a welcomed one. He had already signed her petition and was creating a school specifically designed to train failed academy students with good chakra control, most of which were girls, into medics so they could continue their dreams of being a ninja. This also allowed those that wanted to be medics to forgo most courses in the Academy.

This eventually would lead to the sannin's dream of having four man squads were one within the unit would always be a medic and there would be less causalities on missions and in times of war. It would give Konoha yet another edge over the other nations and set a standard.

Next to last were the villagers. A good portion were causing problems for him, mostly with paperwork, having to sign and file meaningless papers that they knew he had to overlook, but a few were going beyond that. These people were quickly brought in and dealt with but no matter the punishment they simply wouldn't stop.

He wouldn't outlaw free speech, something that he would have to get the council's approval on, yet slandering them did nothing. So finally he decided to go with counter strategy and use rumors that stated the exact opposite.

So in the end while those that didn't like him believed the slanderous rumors, those that thought the Hokage was a sacred position ignored those and chose to believe their Hokage was a good man, something he was trying to be.

And finally there was Yugito. Oh there was Yugito.

She was neither good or bad. She was simply in between. At times there was nothing he loved more and then there were those bad times where he just wanted to sew her mouth shut. He knew it was horrible to think these kind of things about her but if she didn't stopped sexually taunting him at inconvenient moments he would be absolutely fine with her.

Thankfully she seemed to be toning down, for it seemed she realized that he was stressed enough and it would take a while before he was use to this job. And right now... He needed a break. He couldn't just sit down and do this all day.

"Mei Ling!" Naruto suddenly yelled out, bursting from his office while leaving a few shadow clones behind to do his work. "I've got a date to get to so cancel all appointments and unless it is an emergency I am not to be bothered! All reports are to be filed and I will overlook them later!"

"Yes sir." Mei Ling could only shake her head and bite her lip to keep from laughing at the Godaime before busting out once he was gone. This had become a normal routine and she still couldn't stop laughing at this for he would use any reason to get out of the office at this time.

And it wasn't even noon yet!

* * *

"Ugh..." Yugito sighed in frustration simply glancing at her new gennin team and at one person in particular.

She didn't mind Sakura for the young medic really didn't need her help and was doing fine. In fact she actually liked the girl for she helped her out with training the other two and took charge in the pathetic D-rank missions Naruto purposely sent them out on.

Tenten was wonderful for the girl took to her fighting style like a duck to water. She also had a great collection of weapons and didn't hesitate to supply her allies with weapons they needed free of charge. This of course did her well for she kept breaking her dual headed naginata and ivory bo-staff and they were rather hard to replace.

Her problem was Kiba.

Thankfully she knocked the shit out of him for believing Yeizu for a second, something she was sure at least Hana or Tsume did as well to get the point across. The problem was he was arrogant and wouldn't listen to her at times. Now she admitted that Sasuke could be far more arrogant, an Uchiha curse, but he had accepted he had weaknesses and faults and would listen to his superiors.

Kiba... Would not accept his weaknesses and faults until she punished him with them.

Kurenai hadn't really been much of a help for she didn't have too many problems with him. However she quickly added that he could be a handful during missions and the fact that she was pretty sure he thought she was attractive and wasn't always listening with his main head...

The boy was going through puberty, she knew that. Most boys would be difficult to deal with during such a time frame, Naruto being the only exclusion for he was mentally mature already while his body was getting there. Still that didn't explain his reason for acting out.

However she did not know the reason why he was acting out like he was but she was going to find out. "Alright, that is enough for today. Sakura don't forget Tsunade wants to see you for your lesson today. I'm not sure if she'll be teaching or if it will be Shizune or Mikoto. Tenten, Naruto will meet with you around five or so for training with his blades. ...Kiba, I need to talk with you."

The two girls simply nodded, not having forgotten their appointments, before Sakura followed Tenten to get a bite to eat before heading off to see what she would be doing today. Kiba, however, slightly fidgeted and adverted his gaze from her after a small blush.

"Kiba..." Yugito suddenly noticed this and narrowed her eyes before sighing and rolling her said eyes knowing a perverted thought probably crossed his mind. "Get your mind out of the gutter and I'm taken. I want to know what your problem has been lately? While I was getting use to your slight insubordination you've been crossing the line as of late. What gives?"

Flinching at this, Kiba sighed and shook his head. "I really don't know. I've been trying to keep in check but sometimes I can't because I keep catching this weird scent that's coming from you... And it really has been bothering me. Akamaru has noticed it too."

Raising her eyebrow at this, lifting her arm to her nose before sniffing herself which she soon found out was useless, Yugito actually had to frown and wonder what the scent was. "Nonetheless... You've been rather disobedient since the beginning and while I know Yeizu was part of the reason I want to know all of it."

Frowning for he had hoped that would be enough, Kiba would have used the excuse that he was still adjusting to the new team but after a month of training and missions that wasn't the problem. Besides he rather enjoyed being around Tenten and Sakura and both of whom he thought were attractive and being on a team of girls was very... A very happy experience.

But this wouldn't suffice and he had to be honest with his jounin-sensei. If he wasn't it would be a long and tiring process and one he wasn't sure he could overcome. "I heard you trained Kerlya... And helped her master the Dogs of Hell for it is a lot like controlling your fire cat."

'Jealousy.' Yugito immediately recognized the stance and tone and could understand it so with a sigh, she shook her head. "I'm sure both your mom and sister told you the same... That Naruto asked them and they could not refuse him and it is the same with me. We all owe him and we he comes knocking there is no refusal."

"Yet you forget... All you have to do is ask. Not only would I take your training up, so would Hana and Tsume not to mention many other jounin and chunin. You're a clan heir and this village treats its heirs with the utmost respect. ...So if you want to take it to the next level and you are ready, just ask." Yugito commented, placing her hand on her hip and grinning at the Inuzuka.

"So do you have what it takes to truly take your training seriously?" Yugito finally stated and reached behind her, pulling free her newly furnished bo-staff, and awaiting Kiba to answer.

The Inuzuka heir could only grin when Akamaru jumped out of his jacket and barked before nodding with his canine brethren. "Hell yeah! I'm not going to get left behind in the dust. Not by Kerlya and especially not by Sasuke or Shikamaru!"

"Good... Now let's..." Yugito was about to start this session when an odd yet frequent event forced her to stop and look at the new arrival on the scene. "Call it for a day and we'll start tomorrow. ...Naruto, why are you skipping out of your duties again?"

"I'm not. I have clones doing my work for me and I got restless and decided to come see you." Naruto immediately defended himself before tilting his head at the male Inuzuka. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Kind of..." Kiba growled for he wanted to start training and then he came out of nowhere... But then he was hit with inspiration. "Wait... Can you train me? Of all people in the village, you are the Hokage! I know out of everything you can help me become stronger!"

Perking his lips slightly, gazing into his brown eyes for a moment, Naruto closed his and in a split second another Naruto was behind him. Yet at that exact moment, Kiba rolled to the side and tossed a kunai at the clone, who easily deflected it.

Smirking at this, the blonde Hokage opened his eyes and turned from the Inuzuka. "You are part of team seven... And team seven is still registered as my official team with Yugito as temporary sensei. Therefore it is still my duty to train you so from today onwards at this time you and I will train with one another."

"But for now I have a date so my clone here will do." Naruto tilted his head towards Yugito. "And for now you need to toughen up a little... So till tomorrow, don't die."

"WHAT?" Kiba roared out in confusion. He was glad the Godaime had accepted his request to be trained but he had no clue about what he was supposed to avoid being killed by. Then with a bark and a running dog he understood what it was he was avoiding.

"SON OF A BITCH!" A loud boom went off and Kiba barely dived into the water below the bridge, Naruto's clone going straight after him with a few kunai and explosive tags in hand.

Blinking at what she was seeing, Yugito could only grimace at what seemed to be a painful training session, she shook her head. "I truly do hope he survives... It looks like your clone is taking out some of your pent up frustration onto the poor boy."

"He'll live..." Naruto spoke, turning to the elder blonde before tilting his head and beamed at her. "So how about we get some tekkadon from Chouza's restaurant? I've been hearing good things about it since it has opened."

Almost willing jumping into his arms, for she found the dish delicious and revered it like Naruto did his ramen, Yugito retained some of her dignity and poise by simply nodding. There was something more pressing that needed her attention. "Sure... But I have to ask something. Did you know about this scent I've apparently had around me for these last couple of days?"

"Yes... You've had it around you once a month since you've came here." Naruto raised his eyebrow and wondered why she was bringing this up now. "I believe it is a heighten state of arousal that both you and I share possessing a demon within us for a few traits are passed on. However it doesn't really affect anything, for you have to have heightened senses to even be slightly effected by it."

Letting her jaw slacken, hearing that this had been a problem for six years and no one told her until now, Yugito was about to yell out at Naruto for not telling her about when he continued. "I didn't learn about it until Hana said something a couple of weeks ago, saying I had a particular musk around me and I asked mother about it and she informed me what it was? Did you ask Nibi about it?"

"Yeah sure..." Yugito grumbled before mumbling something about neutering and deep frying a certain cat.

Her bad mood didn't last long before her head suddenly was lying on the top of Naruto's and she was holding him in a deathly embrace. "Alright, now let's go get that tekkadon! I've been craving some salmon lately!"

Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders and shook his head at the elder blonde. It was so much easier to deal with Yugito like this...

* * *

"Are you sure of this?" Danzo stated, sitting in a rather large office like that of the Hokage's and reading a scroll, before looking towards his subordinate and seeing him nod in confirmation. "I see... I will inform Lord Hokage of this immediately."

"Sir?" His subordinate was caught off guard for they normally dealt with any problems in the shadows to keep from being detected.

Noting his subordinate's shock, Danzo shook his head and stood from his desk. "There is no reason to hide this information from him. This will help further not only our goals but Konoha as a whole. The civil war in Kumo is coming to an end and we need to get the upper hand on it and the best way is through him."

"Now go. I have business to attend to." The bandaged man ordered his masked subordinate before rolling the scroll and pocketing it. "I may not like you Uzumaki... But we will have to work together and if it means that I have to go through you, so be it."

"You are the best means to achieving greatness for this village once more."

* * *

Growling in frustration, looking at the map of the region before him, a massive man with a dark coloration glared at the turn of events.

"How in the world did they managed to get around our blockade of the region and call for help?" The muscled man roared and smashed his fist into the table, snapping it into two quite easily. "We had this civil war won and this fuck up allowed them to call out to other villages for aid!"

"I'm sorry sir but the odds that Kiri will intervene are small for they just got out of a civil war and currently won't bother trying to help. And since it was the rebellion that won it is more than likely that they would side with our cause anyways." One of his second-in-command and chief strategist stated before continuing on.

"Neither Konoha nor Suna will get involved for Konoha has been supporting our efforts and Suna right now won't cross the leaf. Iwa may answer but that could cause another Great Shinobi War for their tension is high with Konoha and with their young Hokage, they may jump at the chance to show to show off his and his village's strength."

"Finally while there are many smaller villages most won't deal with any problems of the great five. The only problem could be Oto for it is known that Orochimaru is the leader of their village and might look at this as a chance to make the Cloud and Tenshi his puppet. So at best we should cover our rear to the south and worry from an attack from the sound." He finally finished in his lazy stance, not fazed like the rest by the show of strength from E.

"Darui... Doing so will thin our reserves around the village and their tight enough as is." E regained his composure to a certain degree and looked at the now damaged map. "We don't have the excess forces we did early in this rebellion and if we thin out our line they'll easily break through our barricade and draw more supplies to give themselves more time for reinforcements to aid them."

"How dull... We can't thin our line but we also could sustain heavy losses if we are attacked from behind." Darui sluggishly respond and didn't like how this was turning out. "We may have to ask Konoha for physical aid. It will give them more leverage in the treaty negotiations but we may not have a choice."

E's face tightened before he scowled. He did not want to ask for help for they were winning their battles against Tenshi's forces and driving closer and closer to the village gates. However if another village answered the Raikage's call for help they could be forced back and lose their control of this war.

Momentarily pushing this aside, he turned to his number two general before he narrowed his eyes. "This is unacceptable Ryuu, you have failed me too many times already. I cannot trust you to lead the northern sea on your own any longer. Darui, your lieutenant will now take his place. Shi!"

"Yes my lord." Shi stepped forward and bowed lightly, knowing what he was about to be asked. "I will do everything I can to fulfill my duties and not fail you."

Simply nodding at the young man before turning his gaze back to Ryuu, as if daring him to try anything, E finally broke his gaze seeing that the man accepted his punishment. "Take your post and keep vigilant for now. We will continue our blockade however we will send small scouting units hourly to detect if any ninja are trespassing within our land."

"Tell our scouts to treat any passing ninjas as hostile, except leaf ninja that are at our supply points. But also beware of any ninja wearing black cloaks and to not engage unless they can identify them as a supporter of Tenshi's." E ordered, fearing the Akatsuki may try to strike while they were vulnerable and take his brother.

Seeing them leave one by one until Darui was left, E sighed before turning to his lazy general. "How is my brother's condition?"

"Kirabi is doing fine. He is getting rather bored but I know he won't leave right now since I brought his sensei to him. ...But I'm beginning to find his rapping rather dull. It is fine for some time but its wearing on me." Darui weakly moaned, not putting much effort into it yet he was somewhat fed up with not being able to fight.

E could see this and he knew he was keeping his best soldier off the field excluding himself but it was necessary. "I know but I trust you more than anyone else and you learned my father's techniques before he committed suicide. There is no one I trust more than you to watch Kirabi and to make sure he stays out of trouble."

"I know." Darui stated with a slight frown but knew he was stuck guarding Kirabi alone without Shi. "But what bothers me is the new Hokage. I have this feeling that he won't sit idle and will come here soon. ...I don't trust him like I did the Professor."

"I don't know him very well either and I only caught a glimpse of him during the Chunin exams here five years ago... And I know he will be coming to help finish the job for he will want the upper hand in our relations. However there is one thing I do know about him." E responded and smirked slightly.

"He is a man of respect. He will not ask anything unreasonable from us and will be willing to give a little to get what he wants from us. I will use that to my advantage." The muscle bounded man grinned at his fellow cloud shinobi before standing. "And with such I will bring Makoto's child back to this place... Where she belongs."

"For there is something she does not know of and it will bring her back home."

* * *

Suddenly shivering, not understanding why, Yugito shot up in her bed and looked all over the room. There was no one there, that bothered her a little for it was about two from what her alarm clock said, but she understood that Naruto was Hokage and at times he was called out at very strange hours.

Her dream... Was rather weird. The dreams she had been getting before were gut-wrenching and frightening. They were so horrible that at times she could not sleep. She never said a word of them to anyone but her family knew she was hurting and comforted her without second thought.

The reason she never explained them to anyone was because they were never the same. All were similar, gory and they terrified her, but since she could not understand the general concept of what was going on she never told anyone. If she couldn't understand what was going on, how could she explain it?

But this dream... It wasn't anything like the others. There was no blood, no violence. Nothing like that. She was back in the Cloud and was a ninja of their village once again.

While that wasn't too shocking for dreaming of her birth place could be explained. Sure she was older now and there probably were a few changes in the village but nonetheless it was typical to dream of a place she remembered living twelve years of her life. Yet there was one thing that scared her more than anything else.

"Brother..." Tears began to trail down her cheeks thinking of her deceased brother.

Yet in her dream she had seen him clearly. Yet he wasn't the same as he was when she last saw him. He was older and fully mature and looked like he would have if... If her father hadn't slain both him and her mother before her... Before both her mother's teammates, Tenshi and E, arrived and took care of him, having sensed the demon cat's chakra flare.

She could no longer bare it and her sobs filled the room. Her entire dream had been about being with her brother once again in the Cloud, standing with him and being shown through the village and how it changed over the last seven years. And worst of all there was one thing that he said at the end that caused her to break.

'Don't worry, now we won't have to ever be apart again.'

Those words haunted her so. She never wanted to lose him or her mother. She didn't even want to lose her father for up until that moment he had been a kind and gentle person that seemed to love her desperately.

And she lost them... Every single one. She had nothing left in her life...

"Yugito?" A voice suddenly brought her out of her depression, there the one thing she had almost forgot about that was just as important.

"Naruto!"

Without a second passing by, she threw herself towards Naruto in the doorway and continued to sob into his chest. She had almost forgotten everything she had here. Anko, Itachi, Kakashi, Gai, Yugao and Naruto... Especially Naruto. They were her reasons for living... Her reason of being here.

She couldn't forget that. Not even if her brother was still alive. She had them now... They were her family, her reason for living life and she knew that each thought the same about her. But more importantly Naruto... She had to be with him and protect him from suffering the same fate.

Not understanding what was going on or why Yugito was so emotional at the moment, Naruto softly sighed and carried Yugito over to his bed. While he didn't know the reason or the cause of this, there was only one thing he could do for now and that was to comfort her until she started to explain or fell asleep.

Either way, it was going to be a long night. But he didn't particularly care too much, if there was anyone worth it, it was Yugito. Sure there were a few others but he held her above them for she had been there since the beginning... At least to him, and that was all that mattered to him. For that, he would be with her till the end.

It was like the Third said when he passed onto the next life. She was an angel.

His angel.

* * *

**A/N**: Sorry for the chapter being so short. It is only a set up for things to come and to help begin to bond Naruto and Yugito together. So expect a few more tender moments between them for I'm sure some of you can see what is going to happen, especially those that have read my story Crimson Rouge.

The Danzo scene was kind of was an add in. I wasn't happy about how short the chapter was and added it just so it would hit four thousand. It is also a set up to explain his behavior in the following chapters.

Anyways since this chapter was short and there was little to it outside of plot and character development, I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions or comments you should know what to do by now.

P.S.: Starting after this update I will be updating every two weeks until I need a break or get stumped. This is to allow my newest story, Of Gods and Mice, to get off on onto its feet during the summer months. It also allows me some time to focus on my other stories like Red Dawn and Power of Three.

Peace Out.


	27. The Life of an Uzumaki

**This is the Unbeta'd version.**

* * *

"Mmm… So soft…" Yugito mumbled under her breath, still completely zoned out and drooling over her temporary pillow.

This is what Naruto woke up to hear and needless to say he was uncomfortable about it. For you see it was very much like a familiar situation comparable to the Wave country… She was using his lap as her pillow yet again and what she had just said…

Blood was rushing to his face for he was not ignorant of sex and unlike a certain Sharingan wielding chunin he was very much interested in the act… Not that he would tell a soul. He didn't want anyone else other than Kyuubi to know he had started reading Jiraiya's series… And unfortunately his favorite was the third addition…

"Hm… It's now hard?" Yugito grumbled at the sudden change of her pillow's firmness.

It was at this exact moment Naruto realized what was going on. "YOU ARE AWAKE?"

"Of course… However I didn't think I would excite you this much." Yugito lifted her head with a cat like grin adorned on her face, looking like a cat that just caught a live mouse. "Does someone need my help? Or perhaps this is because of those dirty books you've started to read…"

"AHHH! HOW DO YOU KNOW ABUT THAT?" Naruto was doing so well at the moment. It seemed Yugito attacking all his vulnerabilities and would have way very soon…

Now if he was just sure what her way _was_.

Drawing forth a blue covered book, Yugito flipped it open and coughed. "And there she stood before him, bare like the day she was born. Her supple nipples looked like cherries that he wished to devour… HEY!"

In a flicker of light and a storage scroll, the book was sealed away and the special kunai was put away. However Naruto was not fine. His entire body was covered in a thick coat of sweat that shined in the darkness that was simply asking to be licked off…

"Okay… Let's stop here. This is looking exactly like how it happens in the book." Yugito grimaced for she wasn't ready to play with Naruto like that yet. He may be thirteen, legal in the eyes of the law and the Hokage but she didn't exactly want to have sex with him just yet…

She wanted it to be a special occasion, not a heat of the moment type of thing. Also there was the small tidbit she heard from Itachi a month ago that involved…

"Agreed." Naruto panted before sighing and heading to his dresser, rummaging for a towel to wipe the sweat from his body.

Once he found one and began to clean the sweat away, his eyes focused onto her shivering frame. Despite what had just transpired she was still affected by what happened last night and was not herself; that he could see. Something, most something traumatic, was wrong.

Pulling off his shirt, for he had to change anyways, Naruto tossed it onto his bed and slid next to her, wrapping his arm around her waist and gazing into her eyes. "You want to talk about it?"

"I had a dream last night… A dream about my brother." Yugito stated with no hesitation for she felt safe with the smaller blonde around her and knew he would repeat nothing to anyone else if she asked him not to. "But it wasn't like my dreams before… Where I was watching my father slaughter them before my eyes…"

"It was different this time… I was back in the Cloud but it looked different from what I last remembered it. …The buildings were run down and damaged and the ninja were working on repairing them. But I wasn't alone… My brother was with them… Much older then when he passed on and he was… He was showing me around." Yugito's head hung and gazed downward towards the bed sheets.

"But… It is what the last thing he said that spooked me when you came in. …He said that we'll never be apart again." She held in her tears, unsure how to take what her brother had said in her dream.

Keeping his frown from showing, Naruto softly sighed and pulled her into him, her head laying onto his for she was near half a foot taller then he was, before gingerly whispering to her. "It's okay… Nothing is going to happen. I know the pain is still fresh on your mind but it was just a dream."

"I know… But it still felt so real… It almost felt as if it had happened… That's what really frightening about it. Everything felt so real." Yugito cringed for everything was so vivid and his touch… So warm. Just like Naruto's…

Sighing for there was nothing else he could really say the young blonde rubbed his hand along her spine in an attempt to comfort her. "It's okay. I'm here for you."

Yugito tentatively nodded her head, rubbing her head against his in the process, and simply sighed. Most of her sorrow had already passed when she cried onto his shoulders the night before but the pain still lingered. Even within her boyfriend's grasp it didn't completely fade like almost everything did when she was with him.

Still his presence was comforting to her and she really didn't want it to end. So snuggling closer to him, wrapping her arms around him, she began to purr. And of course she knew how uncomfortable it was making Naruto, so she was enjoying it even more. She loved that some part of him was still just a kid.

But a loud shout and a bright flash caught both of their attentions and broke their grasps, finding where it had come from. And when they did all the blood in the bodies drained as they looked into the face of terror.

Before them stood Anko at the doorway, a camera in hand, laughing at what she saw. "Ah you two look so cute together like that. Come on! I need a few more pictures… AH!"

"RASENGAN!"

"KATON: NEKO NO HI!"

Anko rushed from the doorway where she barely dodged the cat of fire that engulfed the hallway into flames, courtesy of Yugito. However she was just barely able to avoid the blue spinning orb of Naruto's that put out all the fire almost instantly and oddly enough didn't really damage the house all too much.

The snake mistress kept running and leapt out the front door, right into Itachi's arms. The said Uchiha blinked at her before his eyes widened seeing a camera in her hand and both Naruto and Yugito storm out of the house.

"Oh son of a…" Itachi was unable to finish his explicative or able to escape with his Abyssal Void.

Naruto and Yugito had jumped them and there was nothing to prepare him for the beating of their lives. But just as it begun he swore he saw a smirk on Anko's face.

And despite all his love for her… Sometimes he really did hate her…

* * *

It was only a few months into his term as Hokage, but Naruto really hated this day of the week. The day he had to take part in the council while they mostly discussed rather trivial matters outside of economics, building repairs and permits, interactions with other nations and such.

However those rarely ever lasted too long and then it was mostly about pointless political power struggles. It wasn't like anyone was going to be able to outmuscle him in power or politics. He was the Hokage and with that came nearly limitless power that he could wield over everyone.

And it started much the same as it always did. They got through with most of the important aspects first. Discussing the slight decline in jobs sent to the leaf and the rise of jobs heading to Iwa, keeping everyone informed on Orochimaru and the Sound's movements if they didn't already know and going over a few business permits that may bring more money to the village.

However the next thing immediately caught his attention. Danzo, a member of the council he knew was power hungry and wanted nothing more then to be Hokage himself, pulled forth two scrolls and summon forth one of the Anbu currently in the room to act as a courier. "Lord Hokage… I have something here that requires your attention."

The said Anbu, who Naruto felt sorry for as this was truly a demotion, took the scrolls and handed them to the Hokage before Danzo continued. "It seems that the civil war in the Cloud has taken a turn for worst for the resistance. While they still have a barricade around the village the Raikage managed to send out a cry for help to other nations."

"Aisukaze Tenshi is the weakest of all the Kage both politically and possibly in power. During his reign the Cloud has deteriorated to such a state that the current civil war broke out were most of the high ranking shinobi sided with the resistance. However he has held his own showing his strength as a true Kage." Danzo continued on, informing Naruto of what he believed he needed to know.

"The first and smaller of those two scrolls is his plea for help to other villages. While we have supported the resistance up until this point it may be a golden opportunity to seize for out of the two Tenshi would be much easier to deal with and get more from him then E. However the second is a message my Root intercepted… A message from Orochimaru answering the call to his plea."

At the end of what Danzo had said Naruto was scanning through both scrolls before biting back a growl. Passing it to Shikaku, his head strategist, he rubbed his temple at what was happening. The snake was acting for too quickly for his tastes and was forcing him into action.

If they didn't respond the civil war in the Cloud would come to an abrupt end and their connection to the resistance would be found out. That would give Orochimaru more ammunition and could possibly draw their support into a war against the leaf. Then there was the worst case scenario where he simply took over the Cloud and combined their forces and drew upon their wealth and strength.

And if they did respond it might be a catalyst that possibly could begin the Fourth Great Shinobi War. No one knew what Iwa was up to and it had become obvious that they were hostile towards them with a recent confrontation within the Rain Country.

While it was mission related and their missions happened to oppose one another it was still a worrisome encounter. Out of the four jounin squad one two returned alive and it appeared that they had been between by three chunin and a single jounin that expressed deep hatred for the leaf.

"Shikaku… What do you think would happen if we were to send a small squad of our elite ninja led by either myself or Itachi to change the tides of the war and to fight back Orochimaru if he decides to strike a deal with the Raikage?" Naruto stated, wanting to know the Nara's opinion for he had been around for war and a few major skirmishes and was the most capable of advising him in this matter.

The said clan head furrowed his brow for a moment, almost wanting to adopt his son's pose to think about this, the Nara head sighed. "It would be a good start for we cannot let the resistance fail for the new regime no matter the case would be friendlier with us than the last. But that would not be enough on its own even if you were to go. Do not forget it took several months, dozens of battles and many uses of Hiraishin for the Rock to surrender after your father created the jutsu."

"I would highly recommend two five man units of elites led by the two heads that will be sent, a four man team of some of best medics, multiple Anbu squads, a pair of chunin squads and even a sensor unit to give the resistance enough support to break the walls and finish this war and keep the Sound or any other nation that may come to their aid." Shikaku finished for he did not have to state the risks for everyone there knew what they were having been around long enough.

"And if the Rock intervenes to help the Cloud?" Naruto asked for he was struggling what to do if they answered the call to arms. "If they are to jump into this it could be the start of a new shinobi war and I would not want to be the catalyst to start such a thing so our children can grow without the threat of death knocking at our door."

"We shall see if that happens… They may answer it knowing that we will just to test themselves against our forces along with the Clouds. Neither of our nations are ready for war at this exact moment and they will not be too eager to jump into such a conflict… And neither should we so we have to tread carefully." Shikaku responded knowing what the young Hokage was grappling with in his head.

A Fourth Great Shinobi War was to be avoided at all costs. He could only smirk at this, as did a most of the veteran shinobi on the council did whether they physically showed it or mentally smirked. His age may be in question but the value he placed on the village's welfare and the maturity he showed in handling such a situation were not.

He was the best for the position.

"I see… Then we will be heading out to aid the Cloud within a week's time. I will need you with me on this endeavor, Shikaku along with you Inoichi and Chouza. You experience will be vastly needed for this so I will need you in my office to discuss who to send outside of the four of us." Naruto said, some doubt still within his mind but knew this was a necessity.

Gaining the support of the Cloud would help further down the road during his term as Hokage. He already had the Sand, thanks to the old man, for allies along with a few smaller nations and he knew the addition of the Cloud into their alliance would put a significant dent in anything the snake or the Rock was planning.

"I would like to protest your involvement, Lord Hokage." Tsume spoke, frowning for she would rather see Itachi sent instead. "I understand that with your involvement would shorten our time within their borders but you are needed here. You simply cannot abandon your post for there are things here that require your attention as well. The Mist may respond to the treaty you sent not too long ago…"

"I know all of this but that can be put to the side. I cannot put this aside and while I am Hokage there are those here that can take over for my leave. Itachi, Jiraiya and even Danzo can look after the village while I am gone. I am not necessarily needed her as of now for Danzo was slightly incorrect. I am the currently the weakest Kage." Naruto responded before delivering a startling message.

Seeing the look of shock on the faces, even of some of the veteran shinobi, Naruto had to explain what he meant for only a few understood. "I may be the strongest in combat but to the eyes of the other nations I am the weakest. I am still but a child in their eyes and I don't hold the same power or sway they do. Just being the wielder of Hiraishin is not enough."

"But you have been in Anbu since you were nine and a captain since you were ten. You've neutralized many armed forces, kept small scale wars from starting and are known as the second flash. How could they overlook such things?" Homura stated with a frown, somewhat understanding of what he meant by lacking sway and political power compared to others but flabbergasted at the statement on how he could be belittled by other Kages.

"It is simple really… I am unproven. Every other Kage has had a chance to show off their merit to the world while I have not. I did all those things covertly for that is the job of an Anbu. I almost never left my mark and when I did use the flash I made sure there were no survivors and imprisoned witnesses and wiped their minds." Naruto easily responded, knowing this was necessary to show just who he was to a large gathering.

"This is necessary for both my status in the eyes of the other Kages and to strength our political and economic pull. By heading over and ending this war and keeping the Sound from intervening it will draw more interest to the village and gather even more business." Naruto finished his reasoning for being apart of the squad that would be assisting the Cloud.

"So overall it is best for the village if I am to head to the Cloud and help bring an end to this civil war… You've been thinking about this for a while, haven't you? You didn't plan on waiting to establish yourself when we launched our future war against the Sound?" Hiashi stated for what he heard seemed premeditated.

Not that it was bad, for Naruto was absolutely correct, it was just a little worrisome that he seemed so eager to go off and into battle.

"I have been thinking about it, yes. It is my job to have to think about such actions that would improve our standing to the world. Whether we like it or not we have yet to reach the pinnacle we held before Kyuubi's attack. We are not the strongest ninja village I seek to return that glory to our village and this is the first step to that." Naruto almost responded in the same fashion as if he had expected such a question.

Hiashi along with a few others noticed this too but dropped it. Naruto did have more time to think and go over scenarios more then anyone else did. Having clones do his paper work allowed him such freedom.

"If that is all, this meeting is adjourned. I would like those that I've asked to head to my office to stay here. Danzo, Itachi I would like you to stay. …You too Jiraiya." Naruto spoke to those involved before turning his head to the white haired man in the corner of the room, masking his presence from the others.

Jiraiya simply shrugged his shoulders and took the seat Hiashi left vacant and everyone that was told to leave did for they had other matters of business to attend to. Once they were gone, the toad sannin gazed at the blonde before sighing. "Why do I get the feeling that you are going to ground me?"

"I am. You will be staying her with Itachi to look after the village… For Danzo, you will be coming with me to the Cloud." Naruto announced before his blue eyes pierced into Danzo's single eye, knowing the man was still capable of combat despite his appearance.

However his unsaid words hung in the air and everyone there knew what it meant. However that didn't stop Danzo from smirking at the young boy. They boy was smart and was testing him, deciding not to base everything he knew about him from what he heard from others that suspected him of wrong doing.

He was saying, 'Come and let's see where your loyalty lies.'

This wasn't just a proving ground for the young Hokage. It was a chance for him to show his strength and display what he was willing to do for his village. Everything was working just as he hoped. "I am honored to join you in your expedition, Lord Hokage. I look forward to our triumphed victory."

Naruto said nothing and instead nodded. He knew what he was doing was a risk, for Danzo could try and back stab him but it was a worth while risk. He would flush out Danzo's loyalties and if he was loyal, even if he was a little shady about his actions, he would let him continue on. And if he wasn't…

He would terminate him for treason.

* * *

Sitting by a dimly little camp site, the only light that illuminated the single person there was a small fire. The said person was a middle aged woman with dark crimson hair hanging a black cloak over a small wire before the fire to dry the water from it over the night.

Sitting down, the said woman sighed and looked up into the night sky. There was no moon for it was during a new moon cycle so the only light in the night sky was from the stars in the night sky.

Those said stars being slowed by the darkness seemed to reflect her soul. She had few bright spots in her life that were overshadowed by pit of despair.

"Karin… Where are you?" She muttered softly for she had spent this time after her run in with her son trying to find her daughter.

What she had seen from Naruto had disturbed. It wasn't the technique, which was absolutely brilliant now that she had time to analyze it for she would never be able to track it like she could do with Hiraishin or any other time and space jutsu. It was his action… When he took Shizune's place and took a near fatal wound…

And not an ounce of Kyuubi's chakra entered despite the situation. It was like the fox wasn't even involved and it was simply all Naruto that was involved. But why… Why was that? The bijuu had control over their vessel, just how the seven tailed demon possessed and controlled everything her brother did until they exterminated him and shipped the sealed demon to the Waterfall for a large amount of money that eventually bankrupted their village.

While she didn't doubt Kyuubi had a great amount of control of her son, she had to wonder just how much of her son still shone through. Because from what she saw it could be said that he was still fighting the fox… Trying to keep his sanity. And if that was true…

"No… The fox is smart. She knows what will happen if he gets a hold of her again. She'll use everything she can to survive, even my husband's techniques and my son's body." Kushina told herself and shook her head as another thought came to her along with a familiar presence beginning to form before her. Narrowing her eyes, she stood and waited for the person to arrive.

"Kushina… It is good to see you after so long." A single figure swirled before the red haired priestess. "Do you mind explaining to me why it took you a month to return to base? Maybe this has something to do with Kisame's death?"

"If anything I was morning his lose for he was a good partner and my sword, Madara." Kushina's eyes gazed into his unique eyes, no fear despite knowing what he was capable of. "I, however, was doing something personal. Since it does not have to do with anything that could affect your precious Akatsuki leave it alone."

She could feel the man smirking beneath and she couldn't help but growl at him. She knew he had something to do with this. "I swear if you have done anything with Karin…"

"Don't worry my dear… I wouldn't harm a head on her head. After all I need you to be obedient and what better way to have her in the clutches of my pawn." Madara responded before he stepped towards her, his hand reaching out and softly sliding through her hair. "So beautiful…"

Slapping his hand away, her red eyes boring into his Sharingan. "Don't you fucking touch me! You are the reason my husband is dead and my son is cursed with that demon! If it wasn't for you I would be lying beside Minato and listening to Naruto and Karin talking about their days!"

Madara simply stayed quiet for a moment; as if he was letting her words sink in. It was that moment he reacted and gripped her by the throat, shoving her into the tree. "Now listen to me… My Priestess. Things were set into motion long before you were ever born and you just happened to get caught in the middle of it."

Despite Kushina's sensory there was hardly any time to react. She felt his movements just before but her body couldn't react fast enough to stop him. He was simply too fast and despite being far older then the deceased Third Hokage or the current Sandaime Tsuchikage he had retained his immense speed, reflexes and power.

"You may remind me of her but don't think for a moment that I care for you and won't dispose of you. You may be useful to me but don't forget I can simply replace you and manipulate your daughter to do your work for you. After all she looks just like you…" Madara stopped and let what he said hang in the air.

Closing her eyes, Kushina bottled all of her hatred and protest for she knew this was going to happen and wasn't going to bother resisting. "Fine… Do what you want with me and I will deliver you what you want most. Even if I can't give you Naruto, I can offer you what you never had."

"The love of that woman." She finished despite feeling disgusted with what she had said, having not an ounce of love for anyone other then Karin and Naruto.

It didn't matter that he was possessed by the demon. She loved her son and would do what she had to do so she could save him. And she hoped that maybe, just maybe, that the fox would see that Karin importance and saved her from the snake.

After all, it had to pose as a human to keep Madara from finding her again and using her like a tool… Like the tool she was about to become.

* * *

**A/N**: Sorry for this chapter being extremely short. I wanted to put a little more in but it just didn't seem to work from going from a very serious matter to a humorous series of events. They'll be posted in the next chapter and instead I created the final seen just to extend his beyond four thousand to explain a little more about Kushina and her relationship with Madara.

And about that… I really hoped that explained their relationship. Kushina is a replacement for his last love. I was orginally going to say but it will become more obvious soon. However if you put together the small clues that deal with Kushina's appearance, what little I have changed, you may be able to figure out who Madara's former love was.

I know this chapter was rather dark but for this arc it will be very much like that for once again I kind of changed my direction. There still will be another arc after this but this one will have many critical points so don't skim over anything and read things twice. You might miss something.

And if I missed anything or have a question you know what to do. I see you later for next chapter.

Peace Out.


	28. Siege of Kumo 1: Enter the Fox

**Chapter is not Beta'd, Looking for a new Beta**

* * *

Through the darkness of night, he couldn't help but feel the haunting silence was lulling him into a false sense of security. He knew something was going to happen and it made him deathly nervous for this was the calm of the storm.

Every soldier was told to watch their back for their siege had a temporarily lapse and the enemy had broke through and got a call of aid out to the rest of the world. While it was well known their war had been going on the village had refused any help until now when they were on the break of defeat and the rebellion was on the verge of breaking down the gates pouring into the city.

Yet they seemed to fight with new vigor knowing something they did not. Their moral was rising and that was quite disturbing for despite this they were still losing every battle and being pushed back. And that all led to one conclusion.

Their plea had been answered and another village would be coming to aid them. Now it was just a question of who it was going to be.

This plagued the young field general as he pushed his hand through his blonde hair while his emerald eyes looked over his soldiers preparing for their dawn raid. If it was another major village they would be crushed. They could not stand up to what remained of the loyalists of the village and the might of the Rock, Sand, Mist or Leaf.

Thankfully Konoha was supporting their efforts so they were almost all but eliminated from the equation despite a new Hokage being named. Suna was almost just as unlikely for they had aligned with Konoha in mostly everything. Whether it was out of fear of their power or feeling safer for being allied with them he was not sure but it only benefited them.

Kiri was thankfully had gotten out of a civil war of their own and with depleted forces they were almost immediately ruled out. Risking losing more named ninja would only weaken them to the extent of becoming on par with the lower villages, though the strongest of the low tiers such as the Rain or Grass. It was also unlikely they would want to keep an elder regime up for they won their rebellion and wished for changes not only in their village but all around.

Now that left Iwa... A known long time ally of Kumo. While for a short time they were enemies near the end of the Third Shinobi War, they slowly repaired their relations and while still not friendly the Rock would not like to loose their last valuable ally. The only reason they had not entered before was they were still rebuilding their forces from the war and losing their Second Tsuchikage from a mad bomber.

Smaller villages were far more likely for the chance of getting a foot hold into a powerful village and being able to wield some power of them. So the Grass and Rain were huge suspects to help them despite the Rain's position against all the five powers. And then there was the disturbing report of a powerful missing ninja creating a village of his own... One Orochimaru of the sannin.

The snake wouldn't hesitate to take a chance and control such a village for he could easily sway Tenshi and force him to bend to his will. Orochimaru was not someone to be trifled with and despite the skill of both leaders neither was sure they could win a match against the inhumane man.

Shaking his head, seeing the signal for the attack, Shi sighed before his face hardened. With a flick of his hands, he took point of his forces and used the rocks of the mountain to blend in and make their way to the gates of the village. His force would be the one to keep the forces there occupied while E's force would follow behind with their battering ram to shatter the gates if they didn't capture the gates altogether in their raid.

And when that happened this war would finally be over before anyone could intervene.

Stopping his battalion, narrowing his eyes at the gates, Shi cursed under his breath. They had decided to move their sensors the front lines. While this was a fool hearty strategy for it would get them kill quickly, it allowed them to build their forces almost immediately and strike with their full force.

This was their last stand and they knew it. If they could prevail here it was all over and they knew that. They had to take the risk of loosing their sensors otherwise they would lose nonetheless.

Cringing, there was no time to react. He knew the sensor was about to call for help and Shi did the only thing that was left in his option. He commenced the attack. "HIT THEM NOW BEFORE THEY CALL FOR HELP!"

Thousands of shuriken flew in the night sky and towards the guards at the gate and those on the walls. There was no kunai among them for the Cloud was unique in that aspect. While they used the ninja stars for projectile weaponry they forsake the versatile ninja knives for real blades like katanas, wakazashis and ninjatos.

However since many were sensors they knew the attack was coming in time. Despite this only a handful out of each group was able to avoid for the sear amount of weaponry was difficult to avoid.

The smart ones were able to use the walls of the village, since they were built like that of a castle, to avoid being seriously hit or killed with the weaponry. Many others were able enough to avoid fatal strikes but took serious hits that would debilitate them nonetheless. And then there was those that were unlike or did not feel the attack and were took by surprise and fell, their blood pouring on and down the walls of their beloved village.

Soon after the first wave ended, the guards quickly blew the sirens and lit the signal fires. Shi narrowed his eyes at this, knowing something was horribly wrong for why would they need fires to alert those within the village that the fighting had begun. His stomach turned for he knew something was obviously wrong but he could not call of the attack.

This battle was the war.

"First wave storm the gates and get those ladders up!" Shi screamed out, knowing the walls were sealed so there would be no way to run up them and they were high enough that not many could make that jump. "Second and third unit, keep them busy with your projectiles!"

Staying back for he was the commander and had to give orders to his soldiers, Shi kept his focus while his friends Samui and her brother joined his side ready to join in the attack. He bit his lip to keep from leaping in himself seeing some of his comrades being struck down by shurikens coming from the defending force.

He hated seeing one lose their life. Everyone had a purpose and to see their life be extinguished so easily made his heart wrench and remind him his pained past. But he had no time to think like this for the ladders were being propped and it was time to act.

"Second unit head in and get on those walls! Third keep showering them! Do not worry about your own comrades for they willingly accepted this roll!" Shi barked out and kept Samui from joining the group. "Stay! Wait for their projectiles to wane before heading in."

Samui narrowed her eyes at her captain. Despite how much she felt for him, having fall for them since when they were chunin, she was not going to be told to stay back. "These are our men, Shi! If we can't stand with them in battle then what good are we?"

"Right..." Her brother grinned, drawing his blade with a wicked smirk. "Besides I can't hold back any longer. I've been waiting for a chance to strike these bastards were it hurts!"

Before Shi could turn to him, he was gone and rushed in behind the second unit. Then a split second later he reached out to stop his sister from following. "Dammit! Samui stop!"

"I'm sorry..." She muttered under breath and followed after her brother knowing that her odds of surviving were low.

However it was the right thing to do for she couldn't watch her friends and fellow shinobi die before her and do nothing. She knew Shi felt the same but he had his duty as captain to lead the entire unit. As his lieutenant... She did not.

Shi bit back a curse and was ready to go in, about to delegate someone to take over for him. He couldn't let Samui sacrifice herself like this alone. He would have liked to see his sister once more but she was the love of his life. His other business, both personal and job related, could wait.

But before anything could happen his eyes widened in horror as a powerful burst of malevolent green chakra ripped the ground before them and towards his unit. "EVERYONE MOVE!"

He was able to dodge and a few others that were in the back of the row but those in front were not so lucky. The powerful burst of chakra ripped through them, disintegrating a few and leaving a few without limbs or entire pieces of their torso blow away.

Landing in the aftermath of the blast, Shi's eyes shimmered with fear. He had seen such an attack before but it was nothing like this. The destruction was the same but the blood and guts nearly made him lose it. But keeping his calm her turned to attacker to see what he had feared.

A line of rushing Iwa shinobi, most chunin along with a few jounin, coming from the earth below and charging towards them. And in the middle was a narrowed eyed teenager with green chakra surrounding his being.

Taking out his blade, he swiftly tore through the first few attackers without much trouble for he was too fast and out of their league. "Everyone to arms! Our enemy is before us!"

Many of his shinobi did so, a few throwing a few more shurikens to aid their comrades on the wall, before engaging with the shinobi before them. However Shi's gaze focused solely on the one with green chakra. "Raiu of the Rock... Vessel of the Nanabi. So Iwa has decided to intervene to save their precious ally."

"I'm simply following orders..." Raiu growled while his demon's chakra burned around him, his hatred for his village surfacing. "To them none of this matters... There is only one thing that does and I might as well give it to them!"

The green chakra burned heavily around him before he drew forth a kunai in each hand, his now red eyes glazing straight into Shi's narrowed emerald. "And what would that be?"

A deep scorn crossed Raiu's face before he spit on the ground before him, his rage barely contained. "To show them the value of their precious weapon! And in order to do that you must die!"

"Raiton: Sandāfurasshu!"

* * *

Unknown to what had happened behind her and the battle that had begun, Samui followed her brother into the thick of the combat. They had managed to get over the wall just before the ladder snapped in two when the top portion of the wall crumbled.

There were many people fighting in such a small space it was hard to decipher who was friendly and who was an enemy. She saw it on occasion that one of their ninja would strike out at their friends and were luckily deflected. However some were not for they struck down someone they considered a friend and more then not froze from what they had done only to have a blade pierced into their chest and end their lives.

It was a horrible sight but one that was accustomed to war. Samui herself was not immune to it and cringed seeing such violence before her eyes. Her brother was more able to adapt for he... Wasn't all there. He was rather sadistic and while he was still a good person once a battle got he didn't care if you were friend or foe.

He was going to shred them. She was the only one immune to his violence for their parents had died long before in the Third Shinobi War.

Samui was knocked out of her stupor and was forced to defend herself using the daggers she kept on her to block the swing of a katana. Unlike most Cloud shinobi she hated wielding a long blade for it threw off her center of balance. Well... That wasn't true. She used to be very good with them but...

Then she grew her two, rather substantial, babies and her balance suddenly thrown off. So she simply cursed the blade and swore them off for she did not want to place the blame on her own body...

Slipping one of her daggers from the block, she stuck it into his sternum before he had time to react. Using the sudden lack of grip on his blade, she flicked it out of his hand before bring her hand to his throat and cutting through his jugular.

She winced from the blood spray, some of it splattering onto her face and into her eyes; she barely had time to wipe it out so she could see before she was pounced on. But the shinobi never got to her and his head rolled to the ground, her brother standing directly behind him. "Samui! Don't lose your focus here! I can't save you every time woman!"

"Get the blood out and continue attacking! We got to take this wall so we can get into the village!" He finished, noting that her vision was impaired and that was deadly for nearly all shinobi in the mist of a chaotic battle.

Already having been doing so, Samui simply nodded at her blood lusting brother before taking care of an incoming shinobi that was behind him, driving a dagger straight into his heart. At the same time her brother slid in behind her and with an arcing slash severed a kunoichi's arm before following it with driving his blade through her throat.

Samui winced at her brother's merciless nature, especially seeing the smile, she shook it off and headed further into the combat. She was able to keep her bearings and differentiate friend from foe easily helping out others in need and freeing more comrades in battle. Despite that the number on the wall was unusually thick...

It was then she realized why. There was Iwa shinobi among them and that was not a good thing. "Shit! Their reinforcement have already arrived!"

"I'VE NOTICED!" Her brother yelled out from a little further ahead while he dealt with such a shinobi. "IT DOESN'T CHANGE A THING! JUST KEEP FIGHTING! WE NEED THE GATE!"

Knowing this was true, Samui felt a little better. It was honestly difficult to kill fellow Cloud shinobi that may at one time had been friends or even family to someone she knew or that was in the resistance. However... It wasn't so hard to kill a foreign shinobi that shouldn't have been there in the first place.

"Katon: Fureabāsuto!"

These words caught Samui's attention before a flames exploded along the wall, engulfing everyone near the eruption. Samui's eyes widened as she watched her brother be caught off guard just as the flames enveloped him. But she had no time to scream for they were stretching out and the blinding flash of light burned her eyes, forcing her to take her sight from the flames.

Just then the stones beneath her gave way and she was barely able to detect a ball bearing aimed to her temple at a blistering speed. Able to deflect it with her daggers, she flung herself up and onto the wall once more before she glanced at the one who had attacked her.

It was a simple teenage girl with a kusarigama in her grasp, spinning the ball bearing on the other and holding the kama end in her dominant hand she figured. And now she could see who the flames came from just as he brother threw off the man he used as a shield to the flames.

"I heard of you two from the Chunin Exams in Konoha... To think you are on the level of a jounin was unexpected. It seems you held back some during the exams." Samui narrowed her eyes at the two before her.

Satoshi only grinned before he went through a massive amount of hand seals at a rapid speed Samui could hardly follow. "Glad you know of us and of our true strength... It will make your deaths all the more easy for you to swallow. Aschen, the girl is mine!"

"Katon: Senkō nesshō!"

* * *

This had been a worst case scenario. Soon as he saw the beckon towers lit E knew they were in trouble. Someone had managed to sneak in during the night and allowed Tenshi to know a force had arrived to help them.

It was most likely Iwa for the Rock ninja were known to go undetected against normal sensors for how deep they could travel through the earth's crust. That was why walls on the ninja village were so unique. Not only were they made to keep those above ground from easily penetrating, they were made with seals that kept anyone from piercing them from below.

However when there was no Iwa ninja attacking his squadron and instead Sound shinobi, E had to curse. It was Orochimaru's village that came to his former teammate's aid. Out of all the small time villages to do something about this it had to be the one he had his suspicions about and knew were somewhat dangerous thanks to a few having curse seals.

His shinobi were holding up rather well, for most elite were within this group for they were going to be the raiding party once the gates were crashed, but that would not hold long. The summoned snakes were a difficult task for anyone to handle along with the Sound's own elites attacking them.

Almost rolling his eyes as a group tried to attack him, their leader in front, the leader of the resistance disappeared. In a blink of an eye, E appeared behind the shinobi in the rear and wrapped his enormous arms around his chest and pinned his arms. Then in a burst of chakra he flexed his might and suflexed the pour shinobi and snapped his next from the ferocity of the blow.

The two closest two him tried to capitalize on this maneuver, for it was rather awkward to recover from, but when they arrived there was no one there but their deceased friend. And then they saw nothing but darkness when their heads slammed into one another and blood poured from their temples.

Next to go was the leader of the unit. E didn't even bother to do anything fancy and used his speed and immense power to shatter his jaw with a single blow. Grabbing his collar, keeping him from flying off, he jumped into the air and with a mighty heave he tossed the man into the ground below, head first.

He didn't even need to bother to see if he had killed him. He knew all too well that he was dead for very few could survive that attack done like it was. But as he turned to face his new opponent he had to frown. One of the few in the world that could stood before him. "Orochimaru... What an unpleasant surprise this is. I did not expect you to stick your scaly ass into this conflict knowing who we're getting support from."

"Ah, but didn't you know? We're already at war with Konoha so it is no difference to us. I would rather have a few allies against them instead of standing on my own against the leaf and their Godaime." Orochimaru rasped in a rather pleased tone for the man knew of his abilities and took him seriously.

"Hmph... You just wanted an excuse to take over one of the great five." E kept his composure while his men battled around them, seemingly ignoring the titanic clash that was about to occur before them.

The snake sannin simply shrugged for that ultimately was his goal in the end. After all the more power he could gather was best for him. With both Konoha and the Akatsuki after his head he needed all the strength he could get. "Ku ku ku, I guess you could say that. I have never hid what my goal was."

This time E said nothing. He knew Orochimaru's goal was to learn every single technique there was to become more powerful then anyone in the world. That was a lot of shinobi's goals, though most knew they couldn't learn every single jutsu for obvious reasons.

Not saying another word, he attacked and appeared next to the snake sannin, who aptly jumped back just in time and flick his arm against E's to knock it's path from his head. Sliding back, the snake simply grinned at the man. "Great power you have but your blows are nothing compared to Tsunade's. That speed however..."

This time ducking beneath a flying knee took the advantage and grabbed the large man by the ankles and brought him to the ground. Outstretching his arm towards him in a hurry, dozens of snakes flung out of Orochimaru's sleeve. "Sen'eitajashu!"

E turned and brought up his massive right arm to protect himself from the blow. Every single snake bit into his arm and injected their venom. He, however, was rather unaffected since his immune system was like that of a bull elephants so it was going to take a whole lot more to affect him.

Grasping every snake's throat with his other hand, he tugged on them and brought the snake to him since from such a close range they were still attached to him. Slamming his snake bitten forearm into the sannin's throat, E growled out seeing it turn into mud before him and encasing his entire arm.

Standing and flicking the mud off, the leader of the rebellion forces glared at the pale skinned man before him and his damned sinister smirk as he threw a few of his shinobi to the side who came to defend him. "You are just as I thought. You rely too much on your physical abilities yet at the same time you have gained an incredible immune system and tolerance to many poisons so you cannot be hindered in battle."

"Still speaking... A fighter such as yourself is no match for me." Orochimaru grinned before he held his hand out into a single seal. "However I would not want to chance it and thus I came prepared. How would you like to fight your father, the Nidaime?"

There were very few things that ever made E show fear. One of such would be if Kirabi was in danger before him. Another was the day he saw Makoto's corpse and what her husband had done to Shi and was attempting to do to his daughter. And now he had to add another to the list. His father being reborn before him with the jutsu created by the Second Hokage.

"Edo Tensei!" Orochimaru cried and a coffin began to rise from the ground before him.

He knew he had to do something. He couldn't just stand by and watch his father be reborn and forced to fight him. He knew he stood no chance for not only did he teach him every fighting move he knew he taught Darui his signature jutsu and without the lazy elite at his side there was no way they could match his father and his black lighting.

Electricity crackled around E's massive frame and he burst towards the coffin in order to stop this technique. If he could interrupt it any way he could it might be enough to stop the jutsu. Generate enough force and chakra to his right arm, he drew his fist back and slammed it into the wooden box with everything he had.

The box splintered and shattered. It wasn't anywhere near strong enough to withstand such a blow. It wasn't tested but E was sure he could level a small mountain with such a blow. With his chakra capacity and his immense strength not even Tsunade of the Sannin's legendary technique could match his power with this blow.

Even the person inside it was obliterated from the impact and his top half was ripped off. Landing behind the corpse, the large man could sigh in relief. He avoided almost certain death there.

However Orochimaru's smirk couldn't help but widen at his actions. That was something he could not wrap his mind around until he saw the second coffin behind the snake. "Glad you took the bait. That one of the deceased swordsmen of the mist. He wouldn't have been too useful without his blade."

"Now time to meet your father." Orochimaru grinned as the coffin behind him opened to reveal another massive colored man that looked remarkably like E.

Growling for this was the worst possible situation, E knew he had to do and turned to his battling elites. "CALL THE RETREAT! WE CAN'T WIN THIS DAY!"

Despite their shock, a few of the jounin managed to free themselves from their battles and made it to their sirens. With his the snake reviving his father there was no way they were going to be able to invade the village and left them in a desperate situation for he knew their forces would take a hefty blow from this battle before this had happened.

And if he survived this it would be his turn to call out for help. The snake's cunning had just caught them the end of this war.

"What I am I doing here... E? What is gong on?" The second Raikage stated, worried now he could see his son and knew it was him despite how much older he was from the last time he saw his boy. "No... The Second Hokage's technique."

"Oh quite so... Now my obedient slave you will kill your own son." Orochimaru stated drawing forth a kunai with a tag on it and had just about slid it into the back of the former Raikage.

It was at that very moment a lone kunai struck the ground before them. And then in a flicker blinding golden light, the visage of a young blonde haired teen appeared before the massive man and held his hands onto his stomach. "SEAL!"

Runes wrapped around the man quickly followed by what seemed to be paper. However the elder Raikage couldn't help but smirk as he looked at the young child and could see the symbol of his position tattooed onto the collar of his shirt. "So the Hokage is not but a young child... But one with such power..."

"Heh, I wish I could fight you young one. You may have given me a challenge back in my time." The man said before gazing over at his own son and smirked. "So could you my boy..."

In that instant the runes and papers completely covered him, sealing him from the battle at hand.

Not even bothering to try to go after the snake, for he had disappeared the instant he had used the Hiraishin, Naruto stood to his full height and barked out to the Konoha shinobi that had just arrived. "Secure the perimeter and provide safe passage for those retreating! Kakashi, take your unit and try and capture one of the damn Sound shinobi and see if he's got any information! Medics, prepare a space to heal the injured if there isn't one already!"

"I'm on it!" Kakashi slid on his Anbu mask before taking off in the direction of the fleeing Sound shinobi, his unit hot on his heels.

The rest of the Konoha shinobi did as they were told, Danzo taking the lead and giving directions. "All chunin stay here with the medics. Chouza, take your squad and the Sand shinobi to see safe passage for their retreating shinobi! Anbu, stay with Lord Hokage while the rest of you work on the perimeter!"

While he hated the situation, E couldn't help but feel slightly grateful that the young Hokage had decided to act before he had to call for help. But there would be no way he would ever admit that. "Lord Hokage... What brings you here? I believed Konoha was trying to stay out of this to gather your own forces."

Gazing at the leader of the rebellion, repressing the want to mouth 'You're welcome' for that was something Anko would do, Naruto simply shrugged. "I thought it prudent once I got word that the Sound was going to support the loyalists."

E knew all to well what that meant. Once everything was over he wanted the upper hand in their bargaining. He didn't want to owe any more to Konoha outside of paying off their debt to them for their financial support. And now with physical support... "Hmph, you are too reckless. Choosing this battle field to make your name is not such a wise decision."

"Possibly... But possibly not." Naruto stated while ignoring the few jounin that came to stand with their leader, not trusting the Konoha shinobi in the slightest. "But for now let us not discuss our reasons. We both want the same thing right now and that is for you to take power of Kumo."

Staring at the young Hokage, wondering just what he was thinking, E could only growl in his throat. He was not a patient man and one of the few things he knew about the young man before him was... That he was and didn't mind taking his time with things.

Because of this he knew one thing. They weren't going to get along very well in person.

* * *

Heavily panting, Samui couldn't help but feel jaded about their information. This kid was good! Their information on the exams in Konoha had stated he was a solid chunin. The hell he was! This... This guy was a solid jounin!

His only weakness was that he had the physical strength and speed of a chunin. His technique répétiteur and his chakra capacity were better then most jounin she possibly knew and that damn fire eruption blood line of his was pissing her off. Every time she got close to him to end the fight he would give her a serious burn and cut before creating more distance between them.

Thankfully she knew her brother was doing far better against the weapon mistress and had chased her off. Her brother was very skilled, that she was thankful for but he unfortunately tried to chase her down and now she had no clue where in the world he was! She really could use his help right about now!

Hearing their sirens in the distance, Samui narrowed her eyes and cursed. That was not good for if they were being called that meant E had ordered the retreat. They most have been attacked from behind which meant this full out assault was a day too late. If they had only gone through with it yesterday...

Satoshi heard the sirens too and could only grin seeing the resistant force still on the walls make their way and attempted to retreat, some being cut down by projectile shuriken in the process. "Damn... I was hoping for this to last longer. You remind me of the Hyuuga boy I faced in the exams. How I would have preferred to fight him at my full capacity."

"That's too bad... Because getting creamed like you did made you look like a loser." Samui couldn't help but taunt the boy despite the fact that she was struggling against this chunin before leaping off the wall and to the ground below.

Growling in his throat, Satoshi charged his chakra and went through a serious of hand seals to try and catch her. "Katon: Doragon'enbāzu!"

Fire exploded from his hands in multiple bursts, flaring out and towards the retreating blonde woman and formed into the heads of dragons. Samui was caught off guard by this attack and the sheer spread the attack had. She was doing rather badly right now with her burns and if she was to get hit by one of these it could at the very least knock her unconscious if not kill her...

Her muscle screamed at her as she tried to muster the strength to move out of the way but the spread was simply too large. There was no way she could dodge... Why was the ground moving beneath her?

Just in the blink of the eye, Samui looked below to see a torrent of sand rush by her before forming a massive wall to block the dragons and all incoming shuriken. The wall stretched for what seemed to be over a hundred meters and stood twenty if not thirty high. And to her immense surprise the dragons only created impact craters from the collision, not piercing through like she thought they should have.

Turning her head seeing something in the corner of her eye, a single red head stood before the wall of sand with his aquamarine eyes burning with blood lust before they landed on her. "You... Leave here at once."

In normal circumstance Samui would have said something to the extent of he was just a kid but those blood lusting eyes told her everything. This wasn't just a kid. This was something entirely else. This kid felt like... Like a monster.

And she wanted nothing to deal with him and did as he said, hoping Shi would be alright. But in the distance she managed to pick up where he was and her eyes widened at what she saw.

Raiu had to curse seeing the massive sand wall. Of course Konoha and Suna had to respond making his job so much more difficult. Gaara would be a difficult opponent for him to handle thanks to his two layers of sand armor. Not to mention he was a killing machine and a true weapon while he...

He was still human thanks to Fuu. He would repay her for that one day. She allowed him to see the light and let him keep what matter the most to him.

"Well..." He started, turning to the blonde captain in his grasp, glaring at him despite his beaten appearance. "You were quite the opposition I must say. But now is time to end this."

Shi could only glare at the demon vessel. That Uchiha he faced in the finals had to truly be one of the luckiest sons of a bitches on the face of the earth. His ability to create a rift and transport himself through it to appear almost anywhere he wanted, or at least some place he had been before, was some truly horrifying and nearly unstoppable.

The only thing that had gone well for him was that he managed to avoid a fatal strike the two times he had used it on him. Blood poured from his wounds, gashed into his stomach and a few along side his internal organs but thankfully not piercing. He also had a deep gash on his temple and the blood freely flowed, another strike that would have killed him if he hadn't narrowly dodged the Nanabi vessel.

Hearing the whir of shuriken in the air, Raiu simply tossed Shi into them and into the new attacker. Samui shrieked in anger seeing what he had done but it was quickly cut off as her fiancé knocked her into the ground. "Dammit you bastard..."

"Samui... Please run..." Shi groaned, the shuriken adding a new dimension of pain but nothing nearly as bad for what he saw in the Nanabi vessel.

Placing his hands into a seal, the brown haired vessel felt a pang of guilt. Despite his battle persona, it was difficult to see such a scene for him. It was like what he felt for his sealed bride within him and to do something to them made his heart well in pain. "Please forgive me... Raiton: Mōretsuna torento!"

Lighting erupted from the air before him like in a torrent. It almost seemed as if it was like fire but the only difference was they could feel the static in the air and the golden coloration bearing down onto them, coming to sear their flesh. In a minute of last desperation, Shi threw himself before Samui in hope to cover her from the blow or at the very least lighten in so she may survive.

But something happened neither expected. The searing electricity did not wash over them nor did they feel the static in the air any longer. All that was left was the heat but it no longer felt the same. It felt as if it was from... "Katon: Hi no Neko."

"You... I see. So he's here as well." Raiu growled in his throat seeing who stopped his attack stand before him, within her own flames yet was somehow not harmed by them. "Give him a message for me... I will kill him before this is over!"

Watching him literally disappear before her eyes, Yugito sighed. The Nanabi vessel was here and that meant Iwa was involved. Things were going to get far more chaotic and soon. How little did she know that turning to see if the two shinobi she saved were alright would have spared her further chaos.

But soon as she did, she immediately recognized the face that turned to see what had happened. Her entire body froze for despite everything that happened and the blood covering his body she knew who he was from his scent alone. She had never forgotten that scent.

And it was the one thing he said was what confirmed it for. "Nee-chan?"

That one word was all it took for the demon vessel of Nibi to collapse and pass from the conscience world. Her brother... Was still alive.

And he looked exactly like he did in her dream.

* * *

**A/N**: There is the chapter... And you don't know how difficult it was for me to write this. After three versions, two of which were rather horrid while another was a chapter long Omake, I finally was able to pound this out. Hopefully it meets expectations.

This is going to be my first full out war series so I am welcomed to any and all opinions for if this first chapter of this war is an indicator... I might be in some trouble. However, don't worry about the story or character development. I will still be keying in on that the most, specifically Naruto, Yugito and a few others throughout this arc.

Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed and if you have any questions or comments you know the routine by now.

P.S.: As much as I hate to say this, I believe I've burned out on Way for the moment. So after the next update I will be shifting to the Ancient Ninja, my Naruto/FFVII cross, for a little while to take a break from this. The war is giving me a lot of problems currently and I need to take a break.

P.S.S: I would also like to respond to everyone that didn't want to read any more after what I had Madara do last chapter. WTF? Do you not have any faith in me at this point in the story? I did it for a reason so just have a little faith in where I'm taking this story to.

Peace Out.


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